Destiny: The Three Musketeers!
by shadowsamurai77
Summary: It should have just of been another ordinary day playing Destiny. Fate changed three video gamer's lives and they found themselves thrown into an adventure the three couldn't refuse. Forced into a war they don't remember, no memory of who they once were, no way of knowing what tomorrow bring. Together they must defend the last City of mankind and fight back the darkness. Good luck.
1. Chapter 1

Pilot: Destinys Three Musketeers

It lunged at him swinging in a downward motion to slice him clean in two. If the player behind the remote wasn't such a good gamer that would have been so. He jumped back out of the reach of his deadly foe pumping his shotgun in one second and in the other using his light propelled jump to throw himself at the being and shoving the barrel of the cold iron in the face of the Hive prince.

"Take that bitch!" Shadow called out into his headset a little bit too loud.

Sprinkle scoffed from his friends reaction at killing the low level Hive knight. "I don't understand how you get excited about killing a level 3 knight when your level 31," his words made their other friend chuckle.

Alex threw a nova bomb at the last prince erasing him with the deadly void blast that eradicated anything around the prince in a five feet radius. "Well, Sparkle, maybe if you weren't a crappy gunslinging hunter you would understand why Shadow and I are the powerhouse of this fireteam."

Shadow and Sprinkle got a chuckle out of that.

It was Just another Saturday afternoon. Shadow, Sprinkle and Alex, were once again playing Destiny. A first-person RPG shooter developed by Bungie. Shadow and Sprinkle had been friends for two years ever since Battlefield 3 had came out in 2013. It was funny how other people saw their friendship because they would always bicker and argue but meant nothing by it. Alex had met Shadow through a random Strike match on Destiny, shortly after that Alex had met Sprinkle and BAM! They were a three man ass kicking fireteam. One Hunter, Titan, Warlock. A perfect team.

Each of them headed back to the tower to turn in the bounty they had just completed on the moon.

"So I see you have finally gotten yourself a legendary Helmet Sparkle" Alex stated as he controlled his Warlock to head towards the bounty tracker.

"Yeah right I got it on the vault of glass with some of my friends a while ago."

"Just because you got better gear doesn't mean you're a better player" Shadow had shot back with a laugh.

Sprinkle controlled his hunter to ram into Shadows Titan sending him plummeting off the tower to his death. It didn't take him that long to respawn but Alex's and Sprinkle's laughing hurt him, not mentally or physically, but his ego.

After about an hour of playing Destiny it began to get dark. In Alaska this wasn't normal but Shadow heard the sound of rumbling outside of his window shocking him. "Hey give me a second, the weather is acting… odd."

Before he could hear his friends replies he had stood up and drew back the curtains revealing a dark black sky crackling with thunder and the winds throwing anything on the streets into the air. "What the hell?" He thought to himself. It was Alaska and their has only been a few times when thunder clouds appeared like this but something seemed off. It was as if the whole sky was coming down on top of Anchorage. Thunder shot out from the sky, whipping around tearing up concrete and the rooftops of houses. He stumbled back when a strike hit a tree outside of his window setting the poor tree on fire with a furious CRACK! Blinded and confused he heard his friends yelling over the headset and put it on.

"HOLY SHIT!" Sprinkle yelled as his wall was torn out by a force so strong it threw him off his couch and into his T.V. His home was being torn apart by a giant black tornado. Even his friends voices were little echoes compared to the monster sized death. Whether out of instinct or fear his body was being tugged and he grabbed a support pillar in his home hoping the thing would hold fast against the tornado. He couldn't breath, his vision grew black and the sky came down on top of him swallowing him whole like a blanket of pure nothing. That was till the thunder began to strike. Fighting back the evil hat refused to let the world be consumed by the darkness. The white cracks of lightning finally found its hope and struck him, killing him, but giving him life so that he may fight in the upcoming war for all of man.

The Darkness had almost gotten them. Something happened in the future that caused this turmoil and destructions. The sky fell, the seas boiled with anger, winds tore and ripped. This was to be the end of mankind, but…

The Light took the ones. The ones who would fight for them and preserve all that is good. Three men and three women all pure of heart. They were to be the knights of the round table, the wall against the darkness, and the slayers of their enemies.

It was… warm, bright, silent, and safe.

Everything was so fast and sudden, none of them knew what happened.

"A-am I dead?" Shadow asked aloud, the light around him so blinding he kept his brown eyes shut. Something hit him in the face and he scowled in anger. He swung back wildly hitting what felt like ribs and someone yelped in pain.

"Stop stop! Why are you two fighting!?" A teen ran over shoving the other two apart before they went at it again.

Shadow stood back finally getting a good view of whoever struck him and glared at him. He was about to 5'9 just a little bit taller than he was. "What the fuck… Shadow?"

Shadow looked at Alex, Alex looked at Sprinkle, and Sprinkle looked at Shadow. All three unsure of what to say or do. The all white scene they were in didn't help either. "Guys how the hell are we here?" Alex asked looking between the two. He couldn't even remember what had happened.

They forgot how they knew what each other looked like but playing hours on hours with each pretty made it easy remember their voices.

Not even answering his question Shadow pointed at Sprinkle with a shocked expression. "We've known each other for TWO YEARS and the first thing you do when you see me is deck me in the face!?"

Sprinkle shook his trying not to laugh "hey man what else was I suppose to do?"

"That does make you look like an ass Sparkle" Alex chimed in.

"Ok ok my bad damn."

Shadow just gave him the pat on the shoulder "its alright my friend you hit like a girl anyways." Sprinkle shoved him and Alex laughed. "No seriously though. What happened?" The texan asked again. All of them took a moment to think about it and for some reason none of them could. It wasn't just that. Family, friends, hobbies, women. The only thing they could remember was each other and some sort of game. Was it a game now or some means of their next life.

All of them stared at each other not knowing what to do. The silence was madding in this vast void of burning white. "Destiny," a single word that Shadow spoke made the remember something.

"Become legend? Does that mean anything?" Sprinkle asked running a hand through his black hair. Alex snapped his fingers with a smile. "Its a game… or a thing… something." Both Shadow and Sprinkle looked at him, "What?" He asked confused at the "what the fuck are you talking about" expression.

Shadow just chuckled to himself. "Bro the only thing I remember is you two fools and actually something about the light and dark. This doesn't even make any sense; I was in Alaska." He pointed at himself then at Alex, "you were in Texas," then he pointed at Sprinkle who was digging in his pockets for something, "and you were in california." They took five minutes to put together what they remember and it didn't help at all. Shadow finally just laid back putting his hoodie over his head and his hands in his pockets. Alex dug into his pockets and froze. He pulled out a glass cube.

Inside of it was beautiful. What looked like blue arcs of lightning danced around a sphere of deadly looking solar orange fire and in the middle of that was a purple empty void.

"What the h-" Sprinkle pulled out the note he had found in his pockets that read in big bold letters "the choice is I'm your hands."

Each of them stood in a circle looking at the note and the fragile looking cube Alex held in his left hand. "I don't understand why this looks familiar, as if we don't hold the memory but we know." Alex's words made sense but inside Sprinkle was wondering if he was taking some sort of psychedelic drug. "What should we do?" Sprinkle asked, almost getting lost in the way that fire looked.

Shadow just got sick of it. The complete white that surrounded them, the loss of memory. He just wanted to be done with this place and leave this warm prison. So he made the decision for them.

Quick like lightning he grabbed the cube and raised it over his head with a look of fear and excitement sketched across his face. "Only one way to find out!" he shouted before smashing the cube on to whatever they stood upon. There was a sound like a vacuum then they were suddenly falling out of the sky. Shadow had a strange nostalgic feeling and thought of something called kingdom hearts for some reason. White became black then black became orange, blue, and purple.

None of them screamed as the air was taken out of there lungs, there entire being rewritten by the power held in that cube.

Arc whipped around Shadows body fusing with his body, changing him. It danced across his dark skin for a moment. The raw power of thunder turning him into a wrecking ball of pure Zeus like power and strength.

Void almost ripped Alex to shreds atom by atom. It was the lights gift to him so this was not to be. A gift of pure power that is not bounded by the laws of space and time. It changed not only his body but his mind, how he thought and how the smallest things held so much wonder. Everything was something to discover and he was the explorer filled with the power to do anything now.

Solar filled him with something different than his comrades. It was a small spark at first but then it grew into a fiery inferno that couldn't be extinguished by anything, not even the darkness. It molded his body into the solar light. A weapon of pure destruction and awesomeness.

Out with the old and in with the new.

Centuries upon centuries they slept. Waiting. For their time to rise out of the ashes of time. The darkness had hit earth with just a little bit of its power. Killing hundreds of people in the process. No one knew what it was but when it showed up, everything changed. It was known as the traveller. When it arrived it spoke to us, took our memories so that we may be reborn as new. It old us that many centuries from now we would arise new men to fight its mortal enemy, the darkness. Long Before the darkness arrived this traveller shared its knowledge with mankind, rose us to higher planes with its advanced technology and tripled our life span. The golden age of mankind would thrive for centuries. We spanned out across space building cities and colonies amongst our neighboring planets such as mars, mercury, the moon, and even venus. But the darkness had taken this away from humanity and now the last great city is our only home. Guardians, the cities noble army of soldiers who protect their home using the power they harness from the travellers energy gave them the ability to fight against humanity's enemies. All this time we've been "sleeping," waiting until we were to be awoken to fight for the light, and banish the dark.

Now Ghost was searching for them. Looking for not one guardian… but three. The ones who would become legend.


	2. Chapter 2

Welcome To The New Age

The ghost has been looking a long time for its guardian, its companion. It was a Ghost, a floating artificial intelligence made from the travellers light. It found its way in Russia or commonly known as old Russia by the people now. Scanning the graveyard of rusted cars it searched among the ancient dead. The screams of fallen in the distance could be heard, but it kept going set on its goal to find the heroes. Old Russia was once a beautiful city filled with people, now wind and sand beat at what remained of the cities crumbling wall where millions of people tried to flee from the darkness.

Ghost looked around aimlessly, scanned another body and left the bones to rest in peace. It floated upwards towards a lone rusted car resting next to the cliffs edge. It scanned the dead body that rested against the car. Cause of death was unknown but he sensed the light in them. Ghosts scanner beeped in a positive chime before flying closer shocked. "Is it possible?" it questioned before splitting open its shell revealing a energy strong enough to bring the man back to life. Another chime and churp confirmed it was the guardian, "there you are."

It was like being born again. The muffled sounds of english hitting them but they still did not understand. The feeling of weightlessness then feeling whole once again.

As Shadow tried to open his eyes he heard a voice calling him. "Guardian… Guardian? Eyes up guardian!" His vision began to come back to him at a slow pace but the first things he laid his eyes on was a small starch white looking robot with a blue "eye" that floated in front of Shadow. "It worked… You're alive!" it started, chirping once more in long awaited excitement.

Alex bumped into Sprinkle drunkenly and the just awoken teen shoved him into Shadow who finally opened his eyes. He tried to talk but found it difficult to even open his mouth, the young adult wanted to correct it and tell the thing his name was Shadow, not guardian. "You don't know how long I've been looking for you. "I'm a ghost," it beeped at its error "actually now I'm your ghost" it rephrased. Shadow looked down at his hands flexing them as if he was a newborn child. His body was covered in some sort of thin tight suit, his hands had black matte color metal plating covering all his fingers down to the wrist. Now it was close to their face, "and you… Well, you've been dead a long time. So, you're going to see a lot of things you won't understand."

Alex felt hands grab him, he was assisted up by Shadow who still felt dizzy. They couldn't speak yet for no words would come out. They've been asleep for so long. Each of them finally managed to get up. Sprinkle fell against the rusted car their bodies once leaned against and tried to shake the drunk uphoric feeling in his head. Screams, no roars, in the distance alerted this "Ghost," that whatever was in the distance was not friendly. It spun back around to face the three of us. "This is Fallen territory. We aren't safe here. I have to get you guardians to the city" the little bot scanned the area worried that whatever these Fallen things were to catch up to us. "Don't move!" It ordered then disappeared into a soft drizzle of light. A second later they each could hear the things voice in their head. The heads up display on their helmets flickered on to life. The armor that Ghost had given the three activated once it recognized the power of light.

Each of them took a moment to look at each other confused at what to do. "Don't worry. I'm still with you. We need to move, fast." Standing in place their eyes set upon the ruins of a great wall, the dead trees swaying from the wind and piles of abandoned rusted vehicles. A path in front of us led towards the wall. What looked like a digital image of the ghost flashed over the right side of their helmet, was this some sort of heads of display? "We won't survive long out in the open like this… Let's get inside the wall." Just as it said we began to make a slow stride towards the wall making sure one foot would go in front of the other properly enough to start sprinting to close the distance to the wall. The sound of roaring in the distance made Alex more worried than the build up of cars at the base of the wall. Did it close before it could save the people? The build of questions he had grew.

Shadow finally managed to speak.

"...Guys?"

The three stopped.

"What is going on. I feel… different?"

Sprinkle only shrugged his shoulders. He tried to speak again to no avail.

"Give it time our bodies need to process what's going on still." Alex spoke like a sage.

Shadow just nodded his head and patted his friends shoulder before continuing up the daunting stairs. We ran into a door leading into the wall ignoring the eerie feeling it gave us as we slowed down to a walking pace up the stairs. Now that we were inside the ghost set a new objective. "Ok… I need to find you three a weapon before the Fallen find us." Trusting the voice in their head, errr helmets we slowly walked across a rusting catwalk. To the right were window panels covered in dust only letting in the barest of light to shine my path. Ahead of us was only darkness which only made this already journey a tougher one until Ghost spoke up.

A light penetrated the darkness from Alex's helmet ghost activated. "Quite… Their right above us" he whispered. The sound of rustling made them think they were going to be attacked by whatever scurried up the panels in the walls. As they climbed the stairs two orange beacons lit up the platform enough for them to see their two feet. Ghost had shown up from behind us separating into five pieces, his eye floated in the middle of a bright light parting away the darkness around me but not by much. We came to a stop next to the railing as Ghost began to float away. Below was a pit of pure blackness. "Hang tight. Fallen thrive in the darkness, we won't. We need more light. I'll see what I can do" it finally flew away to do whatever it had planned. "Hope it won't ditch us in this foreboding place" Shadow thought to himself.

We could hear its voice echoing past the sounds of not so distant roaring. "Another one these military systems… And a few centuries of entropy working against me." Sprinkle chuckled at the things words because he couldn't figure out if the little thing was joking or being serious. What sounded like sparks and a explosion could be heard from where ghost flew, then the lights began to flicker back on section by section revealing those things.

Monsters with knives and guns scattered away on a huge beam from the sudden bright light. "They're coming for us" Ghost exclaimed as he quickly floated back by my side.

Those things! Ran across a platform trying to reach us. We ran to the right where Ghost told us to go into a small room. The little bot closed the shutters behind us and lit up three rifles that were leaning against a crate. "Here! I found a rifle. Grab it," we did what he said without a second thought. Khvostov 7G-02 was it's name, how we knew was because right as we grabbed the futuristic looking weapon in our hands its name was highlighted for us. Twenty four rounds in the magazine and 186 in reserve, its ammo count was at the bottom left for the three to keep an eye on which was very convenient. Not heavy but not light, the trigger wasn't touchy and the stock of the rifle rested firmly against the crook of their armored gauntlets.

"What the hell is going on?" Sprinkle finally managed to ask, glad that he was able to speak.

Alex shook his head. "no idea man but don't aim at us. We're on your side sparkle" he chuckled pushing the barrel of the rifle away from him. Shadow looked at Ghost who floated between the three.

"Ghost where are we headed?" He asked resting his finger on the safety.

"follow the highlighted path. I hope you three know how to use that thing" Ghost's voice sounded worried that they wouldn't learn on their feet fast enough.

"Don't worry" Shadow said with a smirk on his face, "Sprinkle is the only scrub in here."

The only reaction the young adult got from Sprinkle was the bird and a soft chuckle from Alex.

We walked down another corridor in a slow brisk jog. Our heavy feet echoed off the walls making us more worried that those things would hear us. Something down the end of the corridor ran past a light, its shadow appearing then disappearing in an instant. "Eyes forward. Watch your tracker" Ghost referred to the circle looking motion tracker that kept tabs on us, the little blue triangle. Enemies were red and fellow Guardians were green. A light blew out to the left of me making us all jump. Sprinkle thought he heard Alex scream like a girl. Shadow aimed down the red dot sights of his rifle out of some instinct. Despite the scare they kept walking down the end of the hall. Around the corner something came jumping out of the wall, another one dropped down from above at the same time with some sort of odd plasma rifle. Streams blue energy shot out of their gun almost hitting us, one flew past the left side of Alex's helmet and another shot just barely missed Sprinkles torso.

Shadow took a shot to the shoulder, luckily the shields on his armor withstood the shot and only threw him off balance. Sprinkle dragged him behind the wall and Alex ducked behind a crate. Three more fallen showed up.

The hunter was the first to lean out of cover. A dregs round from its plasma pistol missed skimmed his shoulder and he growled in anger. Three bursts and the Dreg went down in a pool of blue blood. "Take that bitc-" Shadow tossed his friend behind him when the vandal came rushing around their cover. With quick timing he threw a hard straight punch at the four eyed beings face. His Titan strength easily broke the neck of the vandal killing it almost instantly upon impact. Even Alex was shocked when he threw out a vortex of void energy that ripped apart the remaining dregs atom by atom until they were nothing left but purple ether.

They stood side by side looking at the dead beings they took out in a single minute. None of them said anything. Ghost didn't comment on the kills shockingly so they continued quickly trying to hide their heavy breathing with slowed down gradually. Even if they shot first the three still felt sick a little, they just killed some sort of… Alien, out of self defense, something told them they didn't have much of a choice though.

One of those Dreg things came jumping off a rusted beam from above in front of Alex. "Watch out!" Shadow shouted raising his rifle to fire. The teen was to fast though and stepped in front of his rifle blocking his aim. Right as the alien went to swing Alex drew his arm back, focusing that light filled energy he could feel in his bones. He threw his arm out yelling as he did so a burst of purple energy struck the Dreg dead in the chest. The thing squealed in pain as its chest caved in and it was thrown through the air, dead before it even hit the ground.

Ghost could begin to see the threes light grow stronger with every kill. He praised their progression silently to himself.

Shadow and Sprinkle slid behind cover closing the distance as much as possible. The Titan and Hunter leaned out of cover shooting Dregs left and right. If felt odd. How the three felt no fear, as if they had done this before in some sort of past life. A lone Dreg bobbed out of cover hoping it could get the Warlock who killed another one of its brethern. To bad Sprinkle had his comrades back. He drew the sleek blade from the sheath on his hip. He spun the blade around the palm of his hand with a devilish grin and let loose the knife like a skilled knife thrower. It flew through the air as the Dreg peaked around the corner to get Alex and buried itself right between the eyes of the Dreg.

Another Vandal had tried to get the Drop on Alex but he drew his arm back and launched the thing back over his makeshift cover. Accidentally the thing was sent flying at Shadow who only noticed by Ghosts warning bell in his HUD. The Titan spun around gathering arc light into his right fist and punched the dreg dead in its face. The thing was sent back flipping through the air, headless, towards a Dreg knocking it down. He took this chance and vaulted over cover. He took up sights on another Vandal and took it down the three shots. then rolled forward dodging the swing of another Vandals blade and side kicked the hostile dead in its chest sending it plummeting to its death over the railing.

The room was clear of hostiles.

Sprinkle walked over to the poor Dreg he so awesomely killed with his throwing knife and pulled the blade out. "We should be freaking out but that was the shit!" He exclaimed throwing out his hand at his two friends who shrugged their shoulders with a smile and returned the high five. They were almost done with this place.

The team ran into some sort of huge huge room filled technology they didn't recognize, far ahead was a dark hole drilled into the wall big enough for some huge creature to easily to crawl out of. More fallen had showed up in overwhelming waves. Even though they were outnumbered they some how managed to kill them all. They could feel themselves growing stronger, even acquainted at how they moved and fought. "The Fallen have a tighter hold on this place than I thought. Just a little bit further. Let's hope there's something out there…" Ghost trailed off. After that I walked through an entrance, a huge fan and that must of been used to circulate oxygen into the wall still was spinning. Another one right in front of me was not and I was able to walk through it towards another entrance leading down some stairs to the divide. Ghost hoped something in the Cosmodrome would fly us out of this wasteland. A red flair was suddenly shot into the night sky, howls of what sounded like more Fallen could be heard was the warning that something was about to happen, and they was right. A flash of red, blue and purple tore apart the sky way out into the land as if something had space jumped into old Russia. "Incoming!" Ghost beeped as what looked like a giant bronze submarine came flying out of the portal along with a couple of smaller drop ships. An electromagnetic wind hit the land disturbing their vision for a few seconds, Ghost told me them they needed to move. Those drop opened up the back end to let more Dreg and Vandal out like spiders dropping out of the sky.

Sprinkle squeezed the trigger of his old rifle and the head of a Dreg blew up commencing another fight.

They were a little bit closer to the building now, right in front of the entrance. Shadow and Alex hid behind a forklift and Sprinkle was reloading his rifle to the back right of them. "Look out!" He yelled when he saw the things. Three shanks appeared from the entrance. Before the Shadow could duck into their combined fire tore through the Titans shields hitting his armor. It held off three shots before a fourth round grazed his shoulder armor sending a white hot pain through his arm. Each of the shank tried to outflank us until a sudden explosion and flash wiped them all out and disorienting the Dreg hiding behind a crate. The flash grenade Ghost provided with when "he" awakened the Titan with were awesome!

"I'm picking up signs of an old jumpship. Could be our ticket out of here." Hearing their little companions words filled them with hope that this fighting would stop soon so they moved faster cutting down any Fallen who got in their way. Nothing could stop them now.

A sort of ship was hooked to cables along side the wall under the blown out roof, and on it were Fallen trying to scavenge it. Upon seeing the ship Ghost sounded stern. "There's a ship! Clear them out." A sort of Fallen taller than the rest held what looked like a plasma shotgun in hand, a few shank and Dreg surrounded it.

Another skillful toss from Sprinkle hit the shank sending it spiraling out of the sky and exploding into bits on the cold floor. Alex ran past bullet fire trying to get a better vantage point and flanked a dreg. He filled his fists with Void and decked the Vandal right in its face as it turned around. The strike took its head clean off. Shadow cursed as he shot down two more shanks with three round bursts.

He felt a pair of hands pull him backwards when a grenade landed between his feet. Both Sprinkle and Shadow were tossed through the air and sent sprawling across the floor. His ears rang. Everything was so distorted he had to take his helmet off. "Guys-" before he could call for his friends name he vomited on the floor. The ringing in his ears didn't cease, he couldn't even hear the captain walking towards him. Alex jumped through the air. He hit the Fallen Captain in the face but Alex grew tired and didn't have the strength to draw any void to his punch. It backhanded the Warlock sending him into the wall with a heavy thud.

"ALEX!" The Titan yelled, finally able to draw some strength. Shadow drew the shotgun from his back and pumped it.

"Watch out!" Ghost warned in his head.

It was too late and the captain teleported right in front of Shadow. It slapped his shotgun out of his weak grip easily then grabbed him by the throat with its two hands squeezing the life out of the Titan slowly. The other two grabbed a pair of twins swords that danced with electricity. Those four eyes stared at him with a sort of sadistic pride. To bad Shadow was too reckless to die just yet. Reaching for his belt he drew a flash grenade. With the fire it took from earlier the shields were already weakened so a strong knee broke through the shields startling the captain. Shadow kicked off of its chest giving him some distance between the captain and the grenade, you could hear it roar in anger before being engulfed by the pulse of blue energy.

That didn't even kill the stubborn Fallen, three of its arms were blown off including a good portion of its mid sections exposing its insides.

Weakly Shadow picked back of his shotgun. He could see Sprinkle struggling to help Alex up out of the corner of his eyes as he walked towards the Captain. Shadow pumped the shotgun chambering another shell, it only took one shot to finally end its life. Ghost floated around him to check if he were okay because Shadow had fallen to one knee in exhaustion, too reassure the bot he gave a tired thumbs up before fixing himself. He sounded delighted that he was able to kill that captain. Alex seemed fine after Sprinkle had helped him up. Though the hunter was a bit banged up from the grenade it was better than seeing his friend blown to pieces he thought to himself.

"Alright, let me see if I can get us out of here" he chirped before floating up towards the ship to check its flight records. As I approached he scanned the ship, "It's been here awhile. Hasn't made a jump in centuries. We're lucky the Fallen haven't completely picked it clean." Looking at the ship I grew worried that it would blow up before we could get it out of here."

"Will it fly?" Alex asked confidently for the three. Ghost scanned the ship one more time before looking at the three, "I can make it work," why is it that he didn't sound the least bit worried? The odd AI disappeared again to take control of the old ship. It's lights came to life, the engine started up with a slow whirring of sounds then a burst of power when the thrusters accelerated. The cables broke off from the ship like chains once the engines began to awaken finally, then it floated in the air sending dust on to the visors of Alex and Sprinkle, Shadow had to guard his face since he took his helmet off.

"Okay… It's not going to break orbit, but it just might get us to the city," Shadow thought over his words again in his head then realized he said might. "Now… About that transmat…" The sound of a deep growl could be heard behind us coming from a giant hole in the wall. Two Vandal and some huge Fallen with a big gun came jumping out of the hole, it looked to strong for us to fight in our weakened state, reaching this ship was way too difficult. Just as the Archon set its eyes on us Ghost beamed all of us up into the ship for a quick escape. It didn't take long for the ship to start up and out of the roof giving them some relief. As Ghost told us we would come back later It felt as if weight on their chest when he said "Lets get you home." Little did he know those words hurt the three, none of them knew how they knew each other. They just did. It didn't matter though because the next few hours gave the Guardians enough time to rest.

A figure in the distance watched as the ship left the Old Russian Cosmodrome. "They are promising," the elusive warrior thought aloud. Its eyes set upon the moon, blinking away the evil hidden under the beauty then disappeared into the starry night.


	3. Chapter 3

Home is where the answer lie

They watched as the remnants of the Archon Priest evaporated in a gold fire. This was a tough fight. Between having to run and gun against the goliath Devil Archon, vandals, and shanks they took a lot of hits but still came out on top. The NLS drive appeared in Sprinkles inventory since he dealt the finishing blow. "You just killed an Archon. This could cripple the fallen. And we got a warp drive! I have to get you three to the Speaker." The title itself and the way Ghost sounded told them this was a person of great wisdom. Despite the tight fit the ship managed to take them back to the city.

"Who is this Speaker?" Shadow asked crossing his arms over his chest ignoring the visible dent. The reckless Titan had jumped through the air, and punched the Archon dead in the face. Shadow was only met with a wild swing from the priest that punched through his shields and dented his armor.

Ghost controlled the ship so "he" didn't show up to speak. "The Speaker is the leader of all the Guardians, he speaks for the dormant Traveler. You'll meet him soon enough Titan."

They walked into a great room that smelled of jasmine. Red banners flowed down the walls leading further into the room. You could see the Traveler sitting in the sky as you walked closer and closer to some sort of mechanism, in the middle of it was some sort of green holographic projection of the Traveller it seemed.

"Wow" Alex sighed slack jawed at the massive moon like Traveller. "I don't believe any of this."

Sprinkle slapped his friends shoulder with a shake of the head. "We just spent nine hours fighting and killing aliens in Russia my friend. At this point nothing should shock us."

As if on cue a voice from behind them startled the three. "Holy shit!" Shadow yelled putting a feint hand over his heart as he looked up at a man. He almost crapped himself.

"There was a time when we were much more powerful Guardians," they looked up to see a man walking down the stairs. He wore long grey robes and a white mask that covered his face. His voice was deep yet soft, they could almost hear the wisdom ebb from each word he spoke.

The three gave him their fullest attention.

"But that was long ago. Until it wakes and finds its voice, I am the one who speaks for the Traveller." They looked back at the Traveller when he said its name, they stood in awe then looked back to the Speaker who now stood next to them to admire the view. He gestured them to follow him. "In its dying breath the Traveller created the Ghosts, to seek those who wield its light as a weapon- Guardians, to protect us and do what the Traveller itself can no longer do."

Ghost floated away from between their shoulders, looking at the Traveller as if itself only knew as much as them. Sprinkles curiosity got the best of him, "may I ask what happened to the Traveller?" He asked politely hoping to not offend the wise man. The speakers voice saddened at the question. "I could tell of the great battle, centuries ago… How the Traveller was crippled. I could tell you of the power of the Darkness its ancient enemy. There are many tales, told throughout the city to frighten the children. Now… The children are frightened anyways."

And guess that is where the three come in then. "If I have the chance to be a hero then punch my ticket and get me on the pain train!" Shadow shouted in his head.

Ghost looked at the Titan as if he could read his mind.

"Its armies surround us. The Fallen are just the beginning" The Speaker continued. Ghost stared at the three of us, Shadow nodded in acknowledgement then turned back to the seeker with clenched fists. "Yes sir. Just tell us what needs to be done and were on it," Shadow looked back at his two comrades. Sprinkle nodded "not like we have anything better to do." Alex held his hands out and created a vortex of void light, "if the Traveller gave me such an amazing ability then I might as well use it to kick some ass!" That got a chuckle out of the three who then turned back to the Speaker.

The Speaker seemed surprised to see them so reluctant to help their cause, he gave them a curt nod. "You must push back the Darkness. Guardians are fighting on Earth and beyond… join them. Your ghost will guide you. I only hope he chose wisely." Alex looked at Ghost with a hopeful grin and he shrugged when they crossed eyes. Ghost did a little "shake my head expression" that made Shadow roll his eyes. "I did… I'm sure of it. We're in this together Guardians." Sprinkle chuckled aloud, "I'll ignore the sound of doubt Ghost but thanks for letting me fight this fight."

Alex and Shadow bumped shoulders with the hunter. "You mean us to I hope?" Alex asked with a smile. Sprinkle laughed, "no no you see I'm the badass of the group so my main job is to fuck the alien bitches and look good killing everything."

His two friends just looked at each other and rolled their eyes. It was good knowing Sprinkle was so upbeat. The past nine hours were filled with shooting, killing, ducking and dodging. Being able to relax and get some answers was a plus, now Ghost was going to help them settle in for the night.

It was late at night and most of the Guardians that decorated the Tower with their presence were either asleep or fighting somewhere in the stars. Ghost had flew off to find them a place to stay for the night. Much to their fortune the three weren't going to have to fall asleep in the old ship they found. Each of them sat on the steps of the Tower that overlooked the city. It was beautiful at night, the city. The last line of civilization banded together. Yeah there were more than likely little hidden towns somewhere on Earth but none so big and so grand as this.

"How did we get here?" Shadow asked to himself. The texan Warlock must of heard him because he looked at him with a grin. "What the hell you lookin at?" Shadow said in a joking matter. Alex chuckled then looked up at up at the Traveller. "It's just that since we been awoken in the future. We have killed multiple armed pirate alien things, fought a giant alien thing, spoke to a new age confucius, and now are sitting on the steps of a giant tower housing amazing warriors to fight for humanities one and only city.

The Titan scratched at his goatee in thought. "Well since you put it like that… Were really fucked aren't we?"

Ghost appeared as soon as Alex scowled with annoyance. "Have no fear. Your light wielding small Ghost has appeared, with keys to your new home."

Sprinkle jumped to his feet and put his hands out "sweet! Hand them over you beautiful little-" Ghost rammed into Sprinkles forehead making him curse aloud. "Ouch what the hell Ghost!"

"Guardian I don't literally have keys, use some common sense." Shadow and Alex snickered behind their hands and received the same treatment, now all three had aching skulls. Who knew such a small thing could have such an attitude.

Their bodies were wrapped in a blue light again all of a sudden. In one moment they were at the tower and in the next they stood in some sort of dark room. "Not the best of places," it chirped again the continued, "but I thought you'd like the view." Ghost floated over our heads then activated the lights blinding the three for a moment. A futuristic looking bed sat off into the right side of the room flanked by two tables. To the left was a T.V set and two large speakers. A door to the left and the right hand plaques on them with Sprinkles and Alex's name on them.

"Woah is that bed for me?" Shadow asked pointing at the medium sized bed set near the window.

"yes."

"May I ask why the hell does my awesome ass have to sleep in the living room?"

"It's because you lost that game of rock paper scissors Titan. Don't act spoiled this is the best I could get on the Vanguards budget. Their paying for all the expenses so take what you got."

Shadow was too shocked to say anything.

Sprinkle just ignored the Ghost and his friend argue and went to his room. He ran his hand over a motion sensored light switched and looked at his room. It was simple really. Single mattress, large closet and a gun rack for his weapons. He turned around with a grin "I'm clocking off for the night."

Alex, Shadow, and Ghost each stared at the hunter.

Ghost chirped twice then floated over towards a small digital screen in the wall. "Guardian if you would like to sleep with your armor on then be my guest. Otherwise use the "vault" to store any weapons or armor you may collect."

The hunter gasped in shock and covered up his body. "GHOST! If you don't recall we have no clothing. What the H am I going to wear huh?"

Just as asked his armor disappeared in a flurry of light and BAM! They were replaced with pajamas completely covered with little sheeps. They would never forget the amount of curse words that came out of his mouth. Over 9000.

After Alex had wiped the tears from his eyes he put on some sweats Ghost had bought for him then headed off to bed. The day was finally weighing him down, he couldn't even draw up the power the void had given him. "Get some rest Guardian we'll be getting up early tomorrow. A mission on the Cosmodrome draws our attention" Ghosts words seemed a mile away as Alex closed his door with an audible click.

"Do you like it? Ghost asked, he floated towards the window, long red drapes hid the night sky but between them Shadow could see the soft glint of white light peek through. The Titan walked towards them slowly then parted the drapes slowly revealing a grand view of the city below and the Traveller in plain view. "If I wasn't such a man I'd cry Ghost." He grabbed a chair taking in the view. His mind began to drift away and he felt himself dozing off. His blood stained armor fit perfectly into the chair. Seriously though it was a damn comfortable chair.

His eyes grew more heavy with each second and Ghost flew in front of him still wanting an answer to his question. For the first time in what felt like two days he felt a calm and relaxing feeling rush over him. Thanks to his new partner. It floated to the coffee table next to him to "rest" for the night but not before Shadow patted him. "Thanks Ghost… for bringing us back," and with those words his hands limply fell to his side, he was out cold for the night too.

Ghost didn't feel annoyed at the sudden touch, he felt happy that he did a job well done. There was no doubt he picked the right Guardians.


	4. Chapter 4

The Devils Lair Its been a month. A month since Ghost had found them amongst the the graveyard of cars in Old Russia. In one month they had managed to free the hive upon the Fallen, discover the old warmind Rasputin, and open a array to the defence constructs across the system. They grew stronger with each battle. Every shot, punch, knife, no matter what they did the three just grew stronger, faster, and smarter. Now they stood in the hall of the Vanguard side by side in front of their respective leaders. Commander Zavala, Titan. Cayde-6, Hunter. Ikora, Warlock. All stood at ease as Commander Zavala stepped up in his hunking grey armor and bald head. Sprinkle couldn't help but stare at master chrome domes well, dome. "Guardians. Good job on opening the array." His praise made the Guardians grin with pride. Damn right they did a good job. It's not as if anyone could hold off several waves Of Hive. Even other Guardians heard of the new fire teams amazing feats. The Titan Commander continued. "Beneath the ruins of the Cosmodrome, in the shadow of an old colony ship, we've located the house of Devils lair. The house of Devils servitor has been nesting in the bowels of the Cosmodrome. Find it, and kill it. Dismissed!" They saluted to their respective Vanguard mentors and left the hall. "Why did they dump the mission on us?" Sprinkle asked spinning his blade around in his middle finger with passive aggravation. Shadow was too busy accessing one of the towers vaults to grab his stored shotgun, the Hide and Seek-42. A dead orbit shotgun he had found in a engram the cryptarch managed to decrypt. The one time the cryptarch wasn't such an asshole. Seriously they found some pretty sick stuff in the Cosmodrome and the old man gave them jack for it. "Well Sparkle as you can see we are the only available and most badass team in the tower at the moment!" Shadow waved over his head "I second that!" The hunter shook his head and went to the vault to grab his pompeii-LR3. It was good sniper rifle and all for long distance eliminations but this sniper rifle only held four rounds. "Is everyone ready?" Alex and Sprinkle nodded, the looks of determination on their faces were clear. "Good. Then lets go bag us a servitor!" "Get the hell down now!" Shadow roared as another volley of bullets bounced off his scrappy cover. He reached around the cover pulling back Sprinkle to safety who just barely ducked the attack. Breathing heavily and reloading his revolver he looked at Alex who was adjacent to them. His eyes grew a purple hue and a devilish grin grew on his dirt covered skin. Two captains and a six dreg fired non stop at the three, never ending until a texan Warlock entered their lives. The teen jumped into the air, using his glid jump and focusing his strong light into his right hand. He threw his hand out like thrusting a sword and a massive ball of void energy shot out absorbing and disintegrating. Anything that didn't die was caught in the after effect of the Nova bomb, its vortex. Alex stumbled for a moment and collapsed in exhaustion, luckily he had the sense to fall behind some cover to take a quick breather. It wouldn't last for long though. "Get up on the catwalk Sprinkle. Scope those damn snipers!" Shadow ordered then rolled out of cover with his shotgun. As sprinkle ran backwards he leaped up into the air and kicked off the wall propelling him further upwards on to the catwalk in the back of the room. The hunter quickly drew the sniper rifle off his back, and breathed. From up here he could see everything. Alex using his fusion rifle to drop the shields of a captain and Shadow jumping into the air like a ball of pure lighting driving his armored knee into the face of their enemy causing the thing to backflip into the air dead before it even hit the ground. A round from a vandal's rifle whizzed past his helmet with a faint zipping noise. CRACK! He squeezed the trigger and the same one dropped like a fly, it withered to the ground holding its gaping chest that burned from the solar round till it died. Another round went past his head and Sprinkle bit back the feeling of sudden dread pass over him. "That bullet could have been the one" he thought to himself. It quickly passed when he squeezed the trigger twice. One round went through the snipers exposed knee making it fall out of cover, and the second buried itself into the things head blowing it to pieces all over the floor. Bullet fire was exchanged for over three minutes now. The Hive showed up and the stand off grew more chaotic. The rhythm at which Shadow pumped and fired his void infused shotgun was relentless. Five more Thrall dropped before the click of his shotgun was audible and the Hive knight that came rushing from around the corner heard it. He ducked under the knight in a boxing stance and uppercutted the bitch under its jaw. It flew back two feet then stopped to a halt and fell on its knees. Shadow let loose a roar like a lion and grabbed his shotgun from off the floor and used the stock of the weapon like a bat against the things face. The armor of the Titan augmented his strength plus the arc energy he forced through his arms as he swung. No one will ever know that Shadow the Titan hit a homerun with a Hive knights head. Hive. An ancient race of undead beings that took the moon from humanity. They tore dungeons into the moon and are now looking for a way to finish off the last city. "That's it the barrier is down." The little bot went back to their HUD's as the wall of lasers fizzled away. Sprinkle struggled to pull his knife from out of a Wizards skull, his arms felt like wet noodles. At this point he didn't care if some of that black ash got on his armor. Of course being a Warlock meant he would recover faster than his two friends was a plus but the Nova bomb he tossed still had him dizzy and he could hardly stand. "Alex?" Shadow called out to his friend who was looking at his two hands, shaking slightly. "Alex you alright man?" The Titan put his hands on his friends shoulders and he flinched. Even though they couldn't see each others faces the guardian was clearly reeling from that attack that saved them. Sprinkle reached into his pack he had strapped to the lower part of his back and pulled out three water bottles and some rations. Sprinkle tossed Alex one, "here. Don't drink it too fast you'll get sick." After a few gulps of the refreshing water and a bite of the rationed sandwich they felt renewed. After a few more moments Shadow got up, he slung his shotgun over his back, letting the weapon secure itself to the back plating via magnetic clips then pulled his Galahad-E out. "Come on we need to finish this before nightfall." Both Sprinkle and Shadow reached down for Alex who looked up at them behind his Chroma Vow helmet and grabbed their hands with a grin. He felt glad he had such good friends at his side. The team met more resistance on the way out of the underground tunnel till they came out aboveground. It was bright still but it was slowly getting darker and darker. The sound of engines over their head made them look up and their blood froze. A Fallen Skiff carrying a Devil walker under the belly of the transport aircraft flew to the other end of the battleground. "Intel was way off…" Sprinkle whispered taking in the sights of the ridiculous number of Fallen, the Devil walker detached from the skiff in front of the entrance to the garage. Beyond it was another sector to the target. The Devil walkers are heavily armed tanks used by the Fallen to pretty much wreck you, hurt and kill you using heavy weapon fire, and a big ass turret that will blow you sky high with just one shot. These things were a real work of art. "Sparkle can you see any vantage points?" Alex asked the hunter as he reloaded his own scout rifle. His friend used his rifle to check and sure enough there was. To the left and right there were buildings in which you two can easily hit that tank." Shadow perked up, "ooh ooh like a sandwich right?" The hunter just stopped and looked up from his scope looking at his friend. "Yes smartass a fucking sandwich. Now if you two fuckbois can get down there and fuck some shit up we can get back in time to watch some cartoons." Like they were told the two jumped into the air and down on to the ground in a giant pool of water. Of course the sound of the splashing and the crack of Sprinkles sniper rifle triggered the fight almost instantly. Shadow popped out of cover shooting two more Dregs dead while Alex tossed a vortex grenade to keep the shanks off of them long enough for Sprinkle to smoke them. The captain ran around Shadows cover charging him with its shrapnel shotgun. Right as the huge Fallen could squeeze the trigger sweep kicked the weapon from its hands and hit it in the face with the butt of his rifle. Another crack went off as his weapon connected with its jaw and the Captains head was blown off from its shoulders. Shadow looked back at Sprinkle who waved at him. "That was my kill you cheeky bastard" he muttered under his breath. The minigun under the neck of the Walker began to spun and both Guardians split hoping to draw its attention to one of them long enough to make it to the buildings. Alex slid behind cover as the main cannon of the tank shot off a round that blew up a huge hole in the ground where he once stood. If that blast would have killed him he had no idea how long Ghost would take to piece together his body. Shadow didn't have much luck on his side. He was forced all the way back up into the building by a captain and two vandal. It went off three seconds after he dived over the table. The Vandal that was in the lead was too arrogant and thought he would kill the Titan as it fled. A pulse grenade went off under it sending hundreds of volts of lightning through its body. "Go into the buildings he said. Sandwich the walker he said!" Shadow mocked Sprinkle from behind a pillar, reloading his shotgun with the three remaining shotgun shells he had left. A vandal came jumping on top of the table next to him and he rolled on to his back under the table. The round went right through the rusted table sending the poor alien up into the air then slamming back down on the table limp as a noodle. Blood dripped out of the corner of its mouth on to the visor of his helmet. "What's up doc?" He asked jokingly, wiping the blood from his helmet. Something suddenly grabbed his foot and he was thrown through the air and slamming into the wall. "Guardian!" Ghost yelled from his helmet. The visor of it cracked and his head felt as if someone was beating his skull with a hammer. A captain leapt through the air and on top of him. It ripped the helmet from his head then tossed him again. His body slammed against the side of the table, even though his armor to the brunt of the impact he was still left breathless. "Son of a-" his mouth was suddenly filled with blood and he coughed it all up. The metallic taste in his mouth made his stomach lurch. Something was broken! The sick thought was too much to bear and he fell over from exhaustion. His foe roared in victory and continued towards him slowly. Ghost yelled at him to get up. "Guardian move. Get up!" Ghost yelled. He couldn't do anything. Alex was pinned down by the walker and a squadron of shanks. Sprinkle fought with fallen that flanked him. No one could help Shadow. The Titan could only see the feet of the Fallen Captain as it walked across the room. Shadows focus became distorted for a moment, he rolled on to his back. Something hit his fingers, the blade of the Vandal he had killed. The Captain stood over the Titan, looking down at the dark skinned warrior that killed so many of its weak brethren. It felt proud! It felt victorious… but this was no ordinary warrior. This was a warrior filled with anger. So much anger it could almost be seen as a focused blind rage. Alex and Sprinkle couldn't stop Shadow from this rage the last time. By the time they had managed to wake him up he held the head of a Hive wizard in his left hand and in his right a blade from a Knight he killed with a headbutt. The captain went to stomp his head in. Shadow was to quick and pulled up the sword in an arch over his head slicing the Captains foot right off in one swift movement. The shock was the first thing the Captain felt, then it looked down at its severed foot, next the pain. It screamed in agony till the warrior got up from the floor and shoved the blood down the throat of the alien till its body hit the ground and its head skewered to the floor. "_Oh no Guardian. Keep going till your satisfied. Kill! Kill! Kill! Some more!" _His subconscious roared. "Shadow… Shadow what the fuck man!" Sprinkle whipped out his revolver as another Dreg came running around his cover. He sprung up from cover spear tackled the Dreg, shoved the barrel of the handcannon into its face and squeezed the trigger. Alex pushed him with his energy into cover. A volley of minigun rounds tore up the earth. "THANK YOU!" Sprinkle shouted in shock at his friends quick thinking. Alex gave him a thumbs Dreg up before injecting the clip of his scout rifle. Sprinkle tried one more time to reach Ghost and Shadow but to no avail. Just as he was about to pop out of cover he saw a streak of blue lighting in the sky. Still enraged Shadow punched his way through five dregs and shanks to reach the Devil Walker. The titan jumped through the air upon seeing his next target, roaring with so much rage Ghost couldn't even enter his mind without feeling the burn of his deadly rage. Alex hit the legs of the devil walker. One of them blew up suddenly and the tank jerked and fell with a cry of pain. Its neck extended exposing what looked like the critical weak point of the walker. It didn't take long for Shadow to charge up his fist of havoc. Sprinkle finally noticed a figure flying further into the air with surprising height. Like superman himself Shadow flew at the walkers exposed neck. His body covered in so much arc light he looked like a lighting comet. Just the sheer impact of the targeted smash ripped the head from the body of the tank. The thing exploded in a roar of fire leaving Shadow on the other half of it, looking up at the sky. His body had no idea what to do. No enemies means no more blood. Rain began to beat down on them. It hit hard, even the flames from the Walker were extinguished. "Shadow get down!" Alex cried out. Seven fallen came rushing out from under the garage door. The hunter jumped over the walker in mid air with his revolver drawn. He took four out with quick precise shots to the head. When his feet hit the ground he rolled under a Dreg and simultaneously dropping a grenade between its feet. The grenade went off further propelling him further. Sprinkles momentum from the explosion combined with the roll forced him in front of the last two fallen to running from the garage. Sprinkle drew his knife in a backwards grip. Tiny droplets of rain fell off the tip of the blood coated blade. The vandal swung at him, he was ready for the attack and bobbed under it and as he was coming up swung his arm backwards driving the blade into the side of its neck. It choked on its blood as Sprinkle kicked it dead in the chest at another Dreg. The thing was thrown off of its feet from the weight. Before it could recover he ran over and stomped down on its neck with enough pressure to break it. The disgusting sound of its neck snapping was driven out by the sound of beating rain. Alex finally managed to wake Shadow from his rage. Good thing when he was in this state he could distinguish between friend and foe because being this close to the Titan put him on edge. Friend or not these episodes were freaky as well as effective. Ghost came flying up from behind them, it shook the rain from its shell then floated in front of Shadows face concerned for the Titan. "You took some hits Guardian. Your internal organs were damaged but I used the light to heal you…" Ghost confirmed his suspicions. This made the Titan groan, his ribs felt bruised or worse. It was becoming harder to breath, but his body was recovering thanks to Ghost. Shadow just pushed the thing from his face and took his rifle from Sprinkle who held it out for him. The Titan to a long deep breath and wiped the blood from his eyebrows, even the cut he got was healed. "Let's finish this, now!" The doors of the lair opened slowly. Dreg lay on the floor, on their knees. "T-their praying!" Alex stuttered, feeling the void gather in his fingertips. The bones of the dead around them made spurred his angry. All these dead people killed for their life force and fed to this fallen "god." Sepkis Prime floated in the middle of the room gathering up strength from the dead Dregs the Guardians had just killed. It looked at them with its disk like eye. Amused that these things! Would try to it. The Servitor was a god amongst its race, these puny little humans could not fathom the power it held. Right as the barrier around the Sepkis disappeared they began to fire and it felt pain. Not just pain, but actual agony from those lesser beings! It teleported to a safe distance hoping to out range their weapons fire. It did not cease, it grew more ferocious like a beat of a drum. Its reinforcements were cut down like flies. A weak obstacle. Sepkis fired three more shots at the hunter each of them struck the ground where he stood throwing up dust and smoke. The servitor was proud of its kill. So prideful that it had killed one of these pesky warriors. The pride was too much and it got cocky. It warped to the middle of the room pushing back the last two with its strong energy blasts. Then… something hit him with so much force it banked and screeched in pain. From the smoke two shots cut through the smoke creating holes in it. Sprinkle jumped from out of the smoke. His body was lit up by solar energy. A golden gun in his hand as he somersaulted through the air dodging a blast. He landed on top of the Servitor with a cocky grin on his own face. Before the fallen foe could react he shot the amazing weapon dead in the eye at point blank. The servitor screeched in pain as its insides burned from the pain. It was too much for the thing to handle and lashed out hoping to get the pest off. It shot a blast off, the human was to face and black flipped through the air on to the ground safely. Shadow shot two more Dreg dead then grabbed a vandal by its face and rammed it dead into the side of a crate exploding its head in an explosion of brain matter. "Now Alex finish it!" He roared He was ready again, his eyes went purple as pure power coursed through his brain. Shadow ran at him and slid on to his knees with his hands cupped together. Alex put one foot in his hands and with Shadows strength threw him into the air towards the Servitor that spiraled out of control over the water. Once more he threw his hands out, and released! The Nova bomb he held back was let loose straight into Sepkis Prime. A sound like the air being torn apart overcame the sound of the Fallens robotic screams. The bomb slammed into the false god and sent it flying into the massive take off platform in the distance. The mere explosion from the Nova bomb destroyed the support beams holding it up. Both Shadow and Sprinkle caught Alex's wrist as he fell out of the sky. The fool would have been too tired to tired to swim and more than likely would have drowned if it wasn't for them. They pulled him back over the guardrail and the three fell next to each other, too tired to move. "that… was… awesome!" Sprinkle yelled, his sudden lack of breath no longer important. Shadow just grinned to himself. The way the rain felt against his dirt covered skin made it almost feel like a shower in some weird sense. Alex took off his helmet and ran a hand through his sweat soaked hair. "Ghost just call the Vanguard. Tell them the job is done before we die of hypothermia." Soon as Ghost heard Alex's command he went to establish a com link with Commander Zavala, that was when it noticed. The sound of ancient beams unable to take the abuse of time any longer. Alex's Nova bomb ate away at them, the weight from the space shuttle was too much and it began to crumble and fall in their direction. "MOVE GUARDIANS!" Ghost shouted. They didn't notice the space ship falling until the loud screech of metal against metal was tearing and ripping. Even as they ran up the stairs it was too late. Sprinkle couldn't yell as his vision was clouded in black. Alex couldn't think as his body was thrown through the air. Shadow threw his hands out with quick reaction. Something like a bubble sprang from his hands and enveloped him and Sprinkle. The hunter blacked out when a rock struck his head, the idiot took his helmet off earlier. Whatever the power was it protected them for a time being. Shadow held it up, his nose bled from the mental strain it put on him; his arms became weak. Alex was no where to be seen and Ghost looked at him with concern. "Little Ghost…" Shadow sighed. The Titan fell to one knee and roared out when he thrusted his hands further upwards hoping to stave off the assault of the falling space shuttle that threatened to crush them. "Guardian hold on! Just a little longer!" His voice was frantic, the comm link wouldn't go through. Shadow fell to both of his knees now and the Ward of Dawn flickered, ready to wane out like a dying star. Before he could say his words the strong shield gave out and both Shadow and Sprinkle were killed almost instantly. Their fight was over for the night. They managed to kill the fallen god. The Vanguard knew they were out here and would surely send reinforcements… right? None of them would get the answers. Ghost preserved their souls with what strength he had, but how long would that last. A day or two, a week? … The rain beat down harder than it did before. 


	5. Chapter 5

Never Let Go

"Somebody help!" He screamed. Rain beat down the rubble that pinned him. A girder just barely missed his arm but he still couldn't move his right hand.

The only sound Alex could hear was the sound of rain under the jungle of metal that caged him. He grew claustrophobic and scared, he couldn't think straight. "Ghost… Ghost!" He yelled into his head hoping his little companion would hear him. Ghost could talk to the three telepathically. No answer except for the sound of rumbling above him. Just above him was a gap about five feet high exposing the sky to him. He could see how the sky darkened and the blue streaks of thunder danced in the clouds.

Unlike his comrades he wasn't crushed by the colony ships. He tossed by the impact of the ships slamming into the Lair. From what he remembered was being thrown under the stairs, somehow they held up the weight but he was still trapped like a mouse. A sound of engines could be heard overhead, the metal around him reverberated from how low it flew. A smile on his face grew. Was it Guardians? Did the Vanguard send someone? Alex opened his mouth to call out, until a thought crossed his mind. What if it was the Fallen or worse, the Hive. A Captain would of just cut his head off with a sword but the Hive, being ripped apart by the thrall or dissected by a Wizard scared him. Either way both meant death.

Reaching around with his hands his fingers bumped something. It was Sprinkles hand cannon. quickly reaching for it he ejected the cylinder to see how many rounds. Three…

"Please help guys" he whispered as the shaking increased in his metal prison.

Shadow and Sprinkle sat in a bath of light. Ghost preserved their souls for about five hours now. It was hard but the little A.I held on for the Guardians. Sprinkle spoke up, finally breaking the silence. "Ghost you need to let us out now!" The hunter yelled. Two chirps went off and the hunter stood up in shock. The Fallen were upon them.

Ghost was hidden inside one of the colony ships trying to evade the shanks and Dreg that searched through the destruction the three had caused. Their false god was dead and they would make them pay for it. Alex was still out there. He heard his voice and would have searched for him too, if the Fallen Skiff hadn't shown up. The Ghost didn't want to listen to Sprinkles words but he had to, a Ghost couldn't disobey its Guardian. Sprinkle was summoned back into the world of living. He took a step and fell on to his hands and knees vomiting. It felt like being sucked out of a vacuum, his stomach lurched from the feeling. Whatever he had eaten hours ago just disappeared into dirt and rain. Shadow wanted to be summoned but he was to weak. Holding up that Ward of Dawn put too much strain on him, along with his own healing abilities and Ghosts light healing touch it still wasn't enough and now those two had to sit off to the side.

"Four Shanks, three Dreg, one Vandal" Ghost scanned.

Sprinkle reached for his holster, his hand cannon was gone. "Can I take them?" He asked drawing his blade in a backwards grip again.

"No not head Guardian, but your a hunter, stealth is your best friend."

Sprinkle nodded back at his Ghost then flipped his hood over his head. Without a helmet this would be hard but the rain would conceal his footsteps. He crouched among the debris and steel. Using his environment as cover. A shank flew over his head almost hitting him, if he hadn't ducked the thing would have caught him. The sound of the rain and thunder was loud enough to take it out stealthy. Sprinkle waited a second for the next thunder strike to attack. He wrapped his arm around the sentry and drove his blade straight down into its light armor easily killing it just as the boom of thunder lit up Earth. Now he was one step closer to finding his friend.

Alex heard the hovering of the Shanks and trembled in fear. Not at the cold but the fact if they saw him he would be riddled with holes from their plasma fire. A Dreg jumped over the gap. If one of them even looked down they could easily spot him. Alex held his breath, not daring to take any chance with his life. Another scream from a Vandal ripped through the air. It took too much strength not to shoot the next Dreg that jumped over him. If he was going to die it would be on his own terms.

Sprinkle jumped over cover and stabbed the Dreg straight through the back of its neck till its body gave out and fell to the ground. Its blood quickly washed away with the rain. Another one of its comrades turned around just barely missing Sprinkle who rolled next to a smashed crate. The Dreg walked over slowly, its footsteps barely audible above all the noise. Closer and closer it walked, shrapnel launcher in hand. Just two feet away. Just a squeeze of the trigger and Sprinkle would be gone.

"5...4...3" He counted down ready to pounce. "2...1-" the sound of a gunshot went off and the Dreg spun around running towards whatever caused the noise. Sprinkle peaked over his cover. "What the hell was that?"

The Fallen found him! Alex squeezed the trigger again taking out another Dreg that was dumb enough to look down. "One more shot Alex!" He yelled into his head. A shadow was casted down on him and his heart leapt out of his chest. Two Captains stared down at him, shocked at the Guardian. Alex Shot his last round and it hit one of them. The shields easily shrugged the Hand cannon round. All Alex did was piss off the Fallen Captain. Both of them dug down deeper to Alex, ready to capture this lowly human that dared fire at them. Finally it reach down and pulled him out with fury in its eyes. Grabbing Alex by the throat it roared in his face. Alex beat down on its hand but it was futile. The Captain pulled out one of its swords ready to skewer him like a kebab. The Warlock coughed "Not today!" Enough void was gathered into his right fist. The Captain let go of Alex just as he threw his hands out engulfing the Captains face in an energy drain that easily ripped through the Captains shields. Like uncorking a bottle the head was popped off from its shoulders and the body fell headless to the ground. That was it, that one attack was too much, he was too exhausted.

A pair of hands grabbed him by the back of his neck and threw him on to the floor roughly. "Gah!" He screamed out. The captains foot slammed down on to his back pinning him down. It wasn't going to kill him, it was going to present him to its Kell. Its Skiff came flying over the Lair ready to pick up the scavengers.

Sprinkle saw everything that happened and grabbed the Dregs shock pistol from its belt loop. He fired two shots from the pistol taking down three more shanks. They were too far away!

Just as a volley of rounds came soaring at him he barrel rolled into cover. "Alex!" He shouted. The skiff was slowly beaming his friend up along with the Captain. Something slammed into his shoulder and he was thrown on to his back clutching at the bullet wound. The Vandal sniper roared in triumph. It was short lived though when a pair of armored hands grabbed him by the head and snapped its neck. Shadow quickly picked up the line rifle and fired two shots at the Captain. The first took down its shields and the second drilled through its skull.

This didn't stop Alex from ascending up into the ship. "Sprinkle! It's getting away" Shadow yelled throwing up another Ward of Dawn as a blast from the Skiffs cannons were drawn to him.

"I always…" he drew his knife and focused his power into it slowly, "have to do the cool shit."

His body was covered in arc light. A crack of lightning struck the hunter and he crumbled to his knees for a second. Anyone else would have died but the lighting seemed to charge him. Sprinkle never felt so powerful. Getting to his feet he dashed towards the Fallen Skiff. It finally took notice of the Hunter and began to fire. Sprinkle dashed left and right dodging the blasts till he was close enough to front flip into the air in a blue ball of awesomeness. His blade slammed into the face of the ship. He pulsated the arc lighting into the ship until even lightning beat down on the ship. Shadow jumped into the air with his own Arc energy and landed on top of the ship punching away at it until he dented it enough to rip a hole through the armor plating. Alex laid on his back passed out. The Titan easily killed the two Dreg that were in his way. "Finish it!" Shadow yelled pulling his friend from the ship and jumping to safety. Sprinkle kicked off the ship and threw two razor edges in an X. Both went cleanly through the Skiff finally finishing the transport ship off. It blew up in a shower of beautiful flames that would make any pyromaniac cry with joy.

Alex, Sprinkle, and Shadow all made their way out of the Lair. They were tired, beaten, hungry, but the team made it out.

Another team of Guardians had been guarding the garage entrance. The explosion had drawn them to the Lair. It had to have been the fireteam the Vanguard ordered for them to find. The amount of bodies they had found here was crazy, even the destroyed Devil walker made them wonder what kind of Guardians the Vanguard had deployed for this strike. When they saw the three walk out they were astonished. "H-how did you three?" Shadow just put his hand up to silence the hunter that approached him. "Please just take us…" Shadow needed to take a breather, he had Alex in a fireman carry and was to tired.

"Take us.." he tried again.

"Take you where Titan?" He asked again. Sprinkle fell on his back, drifting away as a female Warlock ran to his side with a first aid kit. Sprinkle had lost a lot of blood from the bullet wound in his shoulder.

Shadow fell against the Hunter, letting Alex fall to the floor limply. "Take us home." He whispered one last time. The Titan had fallen unconscious. Another Hunter had ran to them from his Sparrow shocked to see the missing fireteam was alive. The leader of this team found Shadows cracked Agema helmet in a building to the left and assumed the worst. The video recording was still intact though. On the way back to the City they watch as Shadow, Sprinkle, and Alex faced an entire battalion of Fallen soldiers. It was impossible what they did, but then again they had heard of such feats. One fireteam even managed to kill the fallen house of winters kell on Venus.

Everyone in the City was going to have a field day about this

* * *

**Hey readers this is Shadow! I would like to thank those who have read my story so far. Thank you. No but in all seriousness I'm excited about how things have turned out and I'm hoping I can keep popping out Chapters at the rate I'm going. Between School and Martial arts I may get a little busy so bear with me. Once again I would like to thank everyone who has stuck around again, and don't be shy about leaving a review. Whether it'd be bad or good input I like to learn from others opinions so toss some my way. Hope you enjoyed. **


	6. Chapter 6

Take us to the Moon!

It was sort of dull grey. Everything about the Earth's natural satellite, the moon. The Hive invaded Earth aided with Crota, son of Oryx, to help drive humanity from the moon. Now three guardians were needed by the Vanguard to explore the dark secrets it now holds.

Inside the ship the three sat around the cockpit of the ship. Shadow crossed out the two names he had written before, wrote a third, then slapped it down on the holographic table between the three. Alex and Sprinkle looked over the paper then frowned.

"Fireteam Phoenix?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shadow crossed his arms. "Yeah why not," He stood up with one foot on the table like Captain morgan. "We've risen from the dead, stronger and better. Like a Phoenix rising from the Ash!"

Sprinkle and Alex looked at each other then gave Shadow a thumbs down. "Ok ok. How about Fireteam Musketeers?" He tried one more time hoping they would finally approve of it.

"Thats so…" Alex trailed on leaving an air of suspension that could be cut with a butter knife. Sprinkle stepped up, grabbed Shadow by his hand and slapped it as hard as he could making the Titan shout in shock. "It's fucking lame Shadow. JUST. STOP. TRYING."

Shadow deflated like a popped baseketball.

The ship touched down on the Moon's dull grey surface. Dust and rocks were kicked up as the ship touched down in a crater. The fireteam leaped out of the hatch with hearts full of curiosity. This was one giant step for the guardians, and an even bigger step to their goal.

Ghost appeared next to Sprinkle. The shell of the little A.I was changed to a frontier shell. A red body with little white stripes. Thanks to the devil lair they were even supplied with a new ship and some weapons, even armor. Killing Sepkis Prime took some of the weight off of the City. Even the video the vanguard showed to all the other Guardians gained them some reputation.

"Guardians. Welcome to the Moon."

Shadow chuckled "is that the best you got?." In response Ghost rammed into Shadows armored forehead. Alex growled under his breath with passive aggravation. "All levity aside, Ghost, Tell us what the mission is so that we may leave this rock." Even Sprinkle nodded. "It's a nice place but I wouldn't live here" he stated shortly. The three walked out of the crater, their sparrows unusable until they set up a com link to a nearby accelerator. A sort of huge monorail used during the golden agel. Ghost informed them that a guardian who had went missing recently managed to take back over the accelerator from a Fallen house not identified. The moon was so silent and lifeless. Nearby work stations were deserted and lost to time. Under the monorail it casted a Shadow down on the group until they reached the inside of the controls Ghost checkpointed on their HUD. Alex knelt down by a dead body of a worker, "they must of been the unlucky ones I guess." Sprinkle just deployed Ghost to the controls letting him do his magic. "It's sad that their families never knew what had happened to them. hopefully they can rest in peace knowing us Guardians appreciate the sacrifice they made." Alex nodded at Shadows words and got up, "who are you kidding Shadow? We don't even know if we had families or loved ones before we died." The Titan growled at his friends poor choice of words but knew he was right. Ghost couldn't even tell them who they were before.

The blinked then turned on. The monorail was back on giving them the ability to use their sparrows. Just as it did though Ghost chirped. "Fallen. Their here Guardians."

Just like he said five invisible Vandal leapt into the room. "Hey watch out they got cloaks!" One of the three yelled. When the fighting started they normally just zoned out. From calm and relaxed to fighting mode. If it wasn't a warning or a command they tuned it out. A Vandal uncloaked and leapt at Shadow, the Titan easily brought his rifle up and squeezed the trigger emptying five rounds into its head killing it. One more was behind it and swung the blade at his head and torso. He rolled out of the way just barely, his shields flashed for a moment when the tip of the sword slashed his chest piece. The Titan quickly recovered and jumped at the Vandal with arc charged in his fists. It's head easily blew up from the impact of his storm grip. Sprinkle drew his knife and tossed it into the head of a Dreg that entered from the main doors, two more appeared and he easily took them out with shots to their head with his hand cannon. Alex ran at Sprinkle as the Invisible Vandal charged at the unaware hunter. Pulling his shotgun out at the same time he blinked jumped. The void had made him stronger after the devil lairs strike. When Ikora, his mentor, watched his fighting abilities she personally trained him and the Warlock grew stronger and stronger.

Disappearing then reappearing out of the void like a action movie star. The recoil of his shotgun slammed into his shoulder, the head of the Vandal went boom and its body was tossed through the air. Shortly after taking out the Fallen inside another wave appeared. Even a servitor and a Captain showed up to tango. The three ran up a platform fighting the fallen waves on high ground. Twenty fallen were quickly reduced to ten. It was just another fight, another battle soon to be won to them. Shadow roared as the Captain charged him, he had no fear meeting the shotgun wielding foe. He didn't see the servitor swerve around the corner in time and it fired off two blasts. A second before it hit him Alex blinked behind him and grabbed him blinking again as the blasts harmlessly hit the ground. They reappeared into the air above the Captain and the Servitor. Their hunter friend tossed a grenade at the Captain taking out its shields and shot both its knees out giving Shadow a clear chance to wipe the remaining Fallen out.

The Titan charged his body with arc light and flew head first into the Captain, Servitor, and three Vandals. In a burst of lighting all of them were practically eaten by the radius of the lighting. Alex landed next to Shadow unharmed and smiled, "can you say death from above?" He joked as Sprinkle rode up next to them in his sparrow.

"Can you two hurry up before that pack of Pikes rip us a new one please?" He asked

Alex and Shadow summoned their own sparrows at the sight of three Fallen Pikes headed their way.

Just like the sparrows which were used for Guardians to get from point A to point B. A pike was medium armored, one mained, infantry fighting vehicles. It could literally rip you in half with its arc rounds. Shadow revved back on the throttle and the Sparrow zoomed off to the riders will. They took careful steps in order to avoid the pack. A couple of Fallen took pot shots at them but they were no deal. Ghost gave them a set path down a path on their radar. Reaching the end of the monorail they veered left to another area called the Anchor of light. A giant dome was built in the middle of the area surrounded by research buildings and old colony bases. Too many Fallen guarded the area and the three had to stop before they could be seen. Sprinkle aimed down the sight of his sniper rifle to scout how many Fallen were in the area. "At least five Dreg, three Vandal, one Servitor, and one captain." Shadow and Alex took a knee next to Sprinkle. "Oh and a couple of Shanks."

Shadow was the first so speak. "Okay so we can either go guns blazing or we can split the group up. One of us will get the information from the communication hub the missing Guardian used and the other two will take care of the surrounding Fallen. "I'm not going" Sprinkle and Alex barked in unison, they eyed each other like rabid dogs. "Okay then lets put this on a good game of rock paper scissors."

They faced inward and put their fists out. Ghost counted off. "1..2..3."

Shadow threw rock, Alex threw rock, and Sprinkle had scissors. "I'm so sick of this. I want a cool job, remember my job is to-"

"Look cool and fuck alien bitches yeah we know. Now stop crying like a baby and go" Alex mocked in a joking matter. Sprinkle flipped him the bird and ran left to a ramp leading into the dome. "Guardian, two Dregs inside." The hunter nodded at Ghost then slipped inside the deserted building. Whether it'd be luck or stupidness, a Dreg was leaning over an open doorway taking potshots at his two friends. The shrills of the Dreg meant it wasn't having much luck with that. Sprinkle didn't care for stealth. This opportunity was god sent. Running dead at it he dropped kicked it straight in the back sending it over and out the dome plummeting straight on to its neck. He would have laughed if a round from a shock pistol didn't bounce off his armor. Sprinkle slid as he spun around narrowly dodging a slash from the Dregs knife. It screamed when he spun his own blade around his fingers and stabbed the Fallen straight into its chest, he quickly silenced its painful screams with two shots to the head. Double tap just to be sure kids. Ghost quickly went to work on the missings Guardians post while Sprinkle supported his friends with his sniper rifle.

Alex grabbed Shadow and blinked them behind the safety of a rock. The Titan leaned against the rock hurling from the sudden feeling of blink. "I would like to say thanks- but no thanks" he groaned. Another round from the servitor ate away at their cover. One Dreg was dumb enough to charge them and Alex silenced him with three bursts to the head. "Alex I swear I'm gonna die if you do that again." Shadow gagged again as he blew the head off of the captain with his shotgun.A Vandal that charged Alex had its chest blown out by a sniper rifle round from behind. Sprinkle gave Alex a mock salute to his friend from inside the dome. Two more squeezes of the trigger and the servitor blew up in a cloud of ether and fire. The fight was over. Sprinkle caught up to his comrades as they were approaching the temple of Crota and the three continued on.

The entrance to the temple was chained up by some sort of chain locked by Hive hieroglyphic spells. The missing Guardian was a Titan. Dead. His body long since destroyed by the Hive in the canyon of rock and silence.

"It's Ghost, it's gone" Alex stated with a feeling of dread. Shadow and Sprinkle looked up at the chained gate then to the dead Titan. Shadow looked down at Ghost as it scanned the body of the fallen warrior. "Is that how will be if the Hive kill us? Broken, our light eaten by the Hive to feed their armies?"

Shadow just shook his heads at Sprinkles words. "No my friend. They'll sooner eat lead and our fists than the light we were gifted with. I'll see to that" the Titan gave the hunter a fist bump with a hopeful grin behind his helmet. Ghost floated towards the door, taking a closer look. Sprinkle heard something from behind them and he spun around. His eyes glared at the sudden appearance of the exo dressed in a black cloak. From the distance he could make out blue robotic eyes and a rifle that crackled a soft blue. "What the-" his muttering was cut off when the chains on the door began to glow and release. "We may want to move back" Ghost stated as he flashed away.

Sprinkle vaulted over the rock as the doors opened and the screaming of Thrall pierced the air. The appearance of their enemy in such numbers was frightening. Behind the rocks of the canyon they took down Thrall after Thrall that charged them blindly. Acolytes appeared and began to suppress them with light fire while knights kept them from moving very far with their boomers practically tearing out chunks of the moons surface with mortar like rounds. Sprinkle ejected his spent cylinder and quickly reloaded with practiced ease. A thrall came jumping over their cover and he spun under its claws, drawing his knife and slashing the Hive across its throat leaving it to wither and disappear away in a blanket of Ash. "Cover me!" Shadow yelled to Alex as he jumped off the rock and into the air. He used his increased height to jump over a large body of rocks where the squad of Acolytes had them pinned. All of his weight slammed down on the Acolytes head smashing it under his weight. The last three took notice of him and spun around to take down the Guardian. A Vortex grenade that Alex skillfully tossed came soaring over his shoulder and landing between the three HIve soldiers. One of them was instantly ripped to shreds by the void. The other two shrieked in horror as Shadow ran at them with fists charged. Shadow rammed his shoulder into the one to the left throwing the Acolyte into the air. The last one shot at him in panic. Shadow shields easily shrugged off the rounds and he grabbed the soldier by its face and slammed it into the ground smashing its brains to nothing. Ash stained his hands like black paint, it was disturbing to say the least.

They dispatched the rest of the hive on the outside and fought their way past the remaining knights outside and jumped into the temple. More acolytes waited inside. "I'm picking up the dying light of a Ghost inside." Sprinkle jumped down in the middle of the room with his golden gun drawn decimating any hive in his path. Alex fought his way to the Ghost, he took the "shoot and maneuver" method little to loosely. It worked for a bit until he got cocky.

"Damn it!" He yelled as his shields were torn down by the combined fire of the Hive soldiers. Two rounds went through his armor, one in his left leg and the other to the gut. Alex was running at the acolytes but the damage he took made him crumble to the ground. Alex just barely managed to barrell roll behind one of the temples pillars. Alex scooted up towards it trying to get a measure of his injuries. Blood stained his hands when he pulled away his hand from his stomach. It wouldn't take long for the wound to heal itself but the pain still made him weak. Reaching under his trench coat he pulled out a scatter grenade from his utility belt and tossed it around his cover as three soldiers were advancing on his position. Two out of the three blew up. The knight managed to survive but its arm was blown off. It didn't falter for a second and it rushed around the corner of the wounded Warlock. Just as the Guardian looked up to see the knight it picked him up by the face and slammed him against the wall repeatedly. Alex couldn't see, its hands covered his visor and he wasn't strong enough to force its grip. Blood ran down the back of his head, he could feel the warmth run down the coat. Sprinkle suddenly came jumping up and side kicked the knight in the side of its head. This made the knight drop Alex in a heap on his face. It reeled back slightly from the blow then grabbed him by the foot and slammed him into the ground. "Shadow need some help!" He yelled out as the knight tossed him across the room. In mid-flight he corrected himself and fired two rounds at the night. It threw up a wall of darkness blocking any damage till a certain Titan entered the scene. Shadow had just finished snapping the neck of a thrall and heard Sprinkle yelling at him from above the temple. Shadow jumped into the air grabbing his friend by the arm. "Don't you fuckin-" Sprinkle was cut off shortly.

Shadow spun around and threw his friend right back at the knight. The force at which he threw him almost broke the sound barrier. He slammed into the wall of darkness with his blade. Of course the shield snapped against the knights defense but he had managed to distract the knight enough for Alex. The Warlock recovered enough to fight the one armed beast. With void in his fists he punched the knight in the back of its leg dropping it down to its knees. Anger and void fueled his body and he gripped the knight by its arm remaining and tore it off with Titan like strength. Ash spewed from its arm less body covering him from head to toe till it died in a sick agony. If it was not for the helmet he thought he would have vomited from the sight.

"I got you buddy" Sprinkle grabbed Alex as he wobbled and supported his weight with one hand under his hip and Alex's arm slung over his shoulder. Shadow was still battling a squad of acolytes. You could hear his battle cry and the sound of the hive running away from the crazy fist fighting Titan.

"You okay to stand up on your own yet? Cause you're really heavy"

Alex chuckled and walked towards the ghost caught in whatever machine the hive hooked it up too. "Your such a poet I swear Sparkle. You could woo a woman with your soft feminine hands."

Sprinkle began to laugh when it showed up. His eyes opened like saucers when a Wizard appeared from the black pool of Ash between him and Sprinkle. Before the hunter could get the warning out it picked him up with surprising strength and threw him into a pillar. The force at which it tossed him took down his shields and he felt his arm snap. The HUD went off like a distant siren has he began to fall in and out of unconsciousness on his back.

Unaware Alex picked up the Ghost with barely contained joy. "Guys look I got the-" Alex jerked forward for a second and paused. Looking down he saw that a clawed hand ripped through his chest, he only felt shock and confusion. The wizard picked him up into the air and chuckled into his ear. He was just so confused, one moment he held the Ghost, then the next it was falling out of his hands and the world was covered in a blanket of Darkness.

"No no no!" Ghost scanned for Alex's light. It was dwindling. A wizard dropped his lifeless form on to the ground and set after Shadow. Shadow noticed his two other comrades missing. The wizard shot dark blasts at the Titan. He threw up a ward of dawn at the last second just barely saving himself from death. Blast after blast after blast impacted his barrier. "What do we do Ghost?" Shadow asked trying to stay as calm as possible.

"Sprinkle is unconscious… Alex is dead. Your barrier won't last long. We have to go!"

"You know damn well we leave no one behind!" Shadow replied trying to think up a plan. He ejected the magazine from his AR and reloaded a fresh one. The Titan wasn't going to go down without a fight. His dawn finally gave out and he backrolled behind cover. The only thing left was the wizard but its blast kept him pinned.

A light sparked in the distance of the darkness. Alex floated in the darkness trying to ignore the burning sensation his body felt as if he was on fire. Ikora trained him day and night. Teaching him many things that most Warlocks couldn't learn in the short time like he did, she taught him how to use the power of a sunsinger. Like parting the ocean Alex was risen from the dead. It was like someone had flipped on a light switch after being in the dark for what felt like ages. He was blinded. Not from how bright it was, but from the way the solar energy around his body radiated like a sun. The distant sounds of gunfire alerted him that Shadow was at least still able to fight. "Oh I think i'm going to like this!" His words rose above all else.

Alex ran towards the end of the platform and jumped into the air. The solar light that wrapped around his body formed into a pair of angelic wings. Vurok seethed at the vision of the Warlock. Vurok was blinded by light. It so bright it screamed in terror at the sight of Alex. This was the last thing it saw before Alex erased the dark creature from existence with flames of justice.

No pun intended.

"The ghost is dead" Ghost stated as it disappeared in a shower of light, "but I can still read it's memories."

Alex and Sprinkle leaned against a pillar arms crossed while Shadow listened to his words carefully. "The Hive are building an army here. If we don't stop them they'll invade Earth in overwhelming numbers. We need to stop them."

All three nodded in agreement. "Good and we will, Shadow continued, "For now we need to go back to the City and inform the Speaker of what we found. He's gonna want to hear this." The temple was silent as they left it, but deep inside laid an army of Hive awaiting the challenge. They were going to need to be better for what laid ahead.


	7. Chapter 7

Two birds with one stone

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all.

-Helen keller

June 3, Tuesday, 8:22. The group returned back to Earth after a week on the Moon they needed a break. Being around the Hive for so long almost drove them mad. The three slaughtered hive after hive. Even managed to "destroy" the sword of Crota by killing the swarm princess. Sprinkle still couldn't get over the fact he was able to wield such a hefty sword. Now, the team was back in the City relaxing for a little bit while doing a little shopping.

The city was beautiful. People were about going out their daily lives as if the enemies beyond the walls were just rumors and whispers. It was definitely a nice change in pace. Vegetation grew all over the city's walls that surrounded the city. Authorized city ships darted across the sky following some sort of air traffic control pattern. Vendors opened up shops along the ground side of the road selling their wares to citizens and Guardians alike. Public transit was a floating Sprinkle and Alex went to turn in their last missions discoveries to the Tower while Shadow was saddled with the duty of buying food. The task wouldn't be so hard if Ghost joined him, seriously he didn't even know how to use his omni-cuff. An Exo titan rammed into Shadow almost knocking him over into another group of people. Shadow growled in anger and shouted"You robotic jackass. Could of at least apologized." The Exo just disappeared into another crowd not even looking back. "I'll find you in the tower buddy," he muttered patting down his clothing. He wore a white v-neck shirt under a black military jacket and dark blue jeans.

Shadow wiped the sweat from his forehead. He wasn't use to being in the City for such a long time. He had been lost for two hours because Sprinkle asked him to buy a cool pair of shades he spotted in a grocery store, a bloody grocery store! The Titan shook his fists at the sun, "Ghost you piece of scrap. I could really use you!" His words were lost to the sound of traffic and people.

Just as he spoke his voice spoke in his head clearly. "Guardian. You've slayed Fallen and Hive yet can't find a local grocery store? Tsk Tsk" Ghost teased inside his head.

"You don't have to be such an ass. Just give me a way point to the closest store." He replied back with a frown.

"Yes my liege."

The Titan growled at the remark. His omni-cuff pinged and a orange line that he could only see stretched on two more blocks. By the time he reached it the little grocery store the inside of his gloves already were a sweaty. Just inside were rows of fresh fruit, instant food, beverages, etc. Shadow picked up a basket as to look normal and grabbed a few things. Five minutes in he was stuck in front of the milk section confused at which one to buy. "I could either by whole milk for Sprinkle and I…" he looked at the other brand, "or I can hear Alex bitch about the nasty skim milk he'll be forced to eat with his cereal." He looked at the ingredients then smirked, "this is an adult decision" he thought to himself.

"I suggest you get the whole. The skim milk from this place will make your stomach upset."

Shadow almost jumped out of his skin at the feminine voice behind him. When he spun around to face the source his jaw dropped. The first thing he noticed was the dark red hair, her hazelnut eyes looked him up and down, this was the first time Shadow had talked to another female besides the service bots around the tower. He composed himself, "I'll take your word for it miss…"

"My name is Athena" even her voice held a sort of vigor that intrigued him. "The name is Shadow." He replied back curtly. The redheaded women chuckled behind her hand, he just noticed her soft red cheeks.

"What kind of name is Shadow?"

"What kind of name is Athena?" He asked with a hint of sarcasm.

That made her laugh again and he managed to break a grin. Shadow couldn't help but her notice her the dimples in her cheeks, the way her small red lips seemed to hold a smile each time she spoke, a little scar could be see on her right cheek. His eyes darted down to her figure, she had a athletic build that was hidden under a dark green hoodie. What shocked him more was another diagonal scar that tattooed her pale skin. "Sir Shadow, your omni-cuff is blinking." Athena pointed at his wrist and he looked down at the dull flashing. Sprinkle sent a message which pinged when he opened it.

**Get back to Tower, Vanguard as summoned us scrub. Don't forget the shades kid.**

Another ping went off and he laughed. Sprinkle told him to buy Alex the skim milk. Shadow turned his attention back to the women. "Well miss Athena it seems I'm called back to duty," he rubbed the back of his neck with a slight grin. Athena shook his hand one more time before he turned around, "maybe I'll be seeing you around… Titan."

Shadow spun back around when he heard her call him Titan but she was gone, as if the women was never there in the first place. "Athena…" he thought. "What a nice name."

* * *

Two hours later and the team found themselves standing in front of the three Vanguards once more. This time was a little different though.

"How can you expect us to do that huh?" Sprinkles voice was picking up, drawing the attention of the surrounding staff.

Cayde stepped up to Sprinkle meeting him face on. "Hunter you best keep calm before you say something you'll regret." The mentor gave him a look of calm that hardly masked his annoyance at his pupil.

Shadow stepped up to meet the challenge too, being the man that he is. "He's right sir. You expect us to delve deeper into the Hellmouth and Temple of Crota further than most have gone. Were still wet behind the ears, and you want us to attack these two places at the same time? The Speaker not only wants us to find this "chamber of nights" but you also want us to find the Shrine of Oryx?"

Commander Zavala nodded, his face a curtain of solitude, his dimenor resembling that of an stone wall.

"If you want us to attack them at the same time will need more Guardians. Spare us three more. A raid group perhaps?" Alex suggested to Cayde.

It was now Ikoras time to speak up. "No Alex. Many Guardians are already out fighting. We even have six missing guardians that went to Venus…"

All of them heard what laid under Venus, but who was crazy enough for that?

Footsteps could be heard from behind them and they spun around to see who was approaching. For the second time today Shadow was breathless. Standing in front of him wearing blood-red Vanir armor and wielding an exotic looking AR fitted with a bayonet was Athena.

"Athena Rose reporting for duty sir" she gave a salute to Commander Zaval, not once looking at the group who starred at her in surprise. Shadow was just speechless. "Good. Now that you're here Titan you may already know but you will be assisting Fireteam err…" Zavala coughed with uncertainty. "Fireteam Musketeer with assaulting the moon-"

"What the hell Shadow we never agreed to that lame name!"

Shadow put his hands up in defense when Sprinkle leapt after him. "I'm sorry but we needed something to go with and you two weren't even coming up with any cool names." Alex then pointed at Sprinkle "you wanted some baby name like fireteam Zeta so don't cry!"

"It was still in beta asshole!" Sprinkle finally rung the bell and the three began.

Alex charged Shadow with his hand raised over his head. "Yeah my size 8 foot is going in your ass shadow." All three of them were locked in mock combat. It was like one of those old fashioned kung fu movies they would speak the words faster than the subtitles. This went on for a good solid minute until Zavalas booming voice cut through the air. Shadow let go of Sprinkles hair, Sprinkle stopped karate chopping Alex, and Alex put his foot down before he rammed it into Shadows…

"You three are in the hall of Guardians, act like professionals or leave!"

"Oh so leaving is an option?" Sprinkle sarcastically asked making Cayde growl in annoyance, he just ignored it of course and put on his shades. You could just hear him say "I don't give a damn" broadcast from his mind, even the shades and his laid back body expression amplified it.

Another bark from Zavala and that really did shut them up. Though they kept giving each other dirty looks and bumped elbows. The aggravated Titan looked at Athena who stood silent through that ordeal. "Rose. You will be accompanying Shadow to the shrine of Oryx."

Before Shadow could argue Zavala look towards the Warlock and Hunter. "Alex and hunter." Zavala never did like calling Sprinkle Sprinkle. "Your job will be stopping the ritual in the chamber of nights." All of them stood in shock. "With all due respect sir but this is nuts. The Hive are stronger than they are the further we go down the hellmouth. Hell even the temple of Crota is a honeycomb of Thrall and bullshit." Cayde couldn't help but laugh at Shadows use of words, Ikora only shook her head with a slight grin. Zavala was less amused at the Titans complaints, back in his day he had to run a fireteam with one member, and that was himself. Athena stood next to Shadow and nodded at him when he took a glance at her. "Will get the job done sir." Athena gripped her new partner by the arm and dragged him off, he hardly had time to give his partners a hug, even a few fake tears to show his love before she finally got him. The sounds of his complaints were but an echo to the vanguards ears. "Thank the traveler," Zavala rubbed his temples and walked away to his station. Sprinkle and Alex went to their vaults and pulled the new gear they earned after a few bounties. The old shotgun on his back was replaced with the Invective, a fully automatic solar shotgun. "Where did you get that?" Sprinkle asked looking down at his thigh holster as the Chance hand cannon replaced his old one. "Well it was a dubious task man I don't think I have the security clearance to tell you." The hunter snickered and gave him the middle finger, "is this a high enough clearance?" Alex shoved Sprinkle and the two were back at it again. The cryptarch watched on the sidelines wondering if he should stop each other from slapping each other to death.

Down in the hanger Shadow and Athena waited as her ship was being brought up by the shipwright control tower. Shadow tightened his black field chest plate. He reloaded the handcannon, Red hand XI, was strapped to his thigh holster firmly under his Mark of resolve. "You cannot control the enemy. You can control yourself. The real victory lies within" Athena resided out loud. Shadow grinned and turned to her, "Pujari transcript VIII. Something that often try to remember on the battlefield" he commented back. Athena tilted her head, a look of confusion on her face. "Commander told me about the blood rage mode you go into from time to time."

Now this shocked Shadow. He leaned against a handrail with his arms crossed over his chest. "You never took me for the stalker type miss Rose." Athena rested her elbows on the railing next to him looking out to the ships that departed to adventures beyond Earth. "I can tell you now that no Guardian in this tower hasn't heard of Fireteam Musketeer. The video that the recovery team retrieved from your helmet was played in an old rundown cinema. They even charged a one hundred glimmer fee to anyone that showed up. It was like a golden age action movie. Needless to say you three are pretty famous."

He didn't know what to make of that. Yeah it was pretty awesome to be famous, but on the other hand he didn't receive any of that glimmer and that's a problem. "Actually now that I realize it, where is the rest of your team?" His mouth moving faster than he could think. Athena's eyes went cold and she sighed heavily. "You heard of the six missing Guardians that went missing?" she asked.

Shadow nodded.

"My other two partners, Alice and Kate, went with the raid party. No message, no warning, nothing. Just gone. No one even knows whose leading the party.

The kestrel class ship rose up from the landing platform. Athena looked up at him, her hazelnut eyes meeting his own brown eyes. He's was speechless for a second, a mental picture of her clicked in his mind like a snapshot, almost perfect, he thought. Somewhere in the back of his mind he hit reboot and stood upright. "Whatever we can pull up from the moon will hopefully get us to Venus Athena. Maybe then will get some answers."

"I hope so to Titan," her words soft once again. With that they walked down the stairs of the hanger towards the ship ready to brave another battle, hopefully closer to victory.

As they left Sprinkle and Alex were split up by the Towers security force. The cryptarch and a few other Guardians put down money on who would win the slap boxing match. Cayde had shown up to the little skirmish, he was going to split it up himself when another hunter placed a bet against his pupil. To bad everyone left disappointed and the two Guardians left Earth embarrassed. Secretly they plotted to get each other, waiting for the perfect time for revenge. Justice will be served.

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**Hey readers Shadowsamurai here. I do have to apologize for this short chapter. I've been up since 6:30 A.M. and my brain is done. I promise that the next two chapters will be action packed and thrilling. I am kind of liking the new character, Athena Rose. She is a Titan who lead her fireteam, Olympus, against the Nexus on Venus. After they beat the Nexus the other two members of her team had joined a raid party on the Vault of Glass for god knows what reason.**

**So far I kind of like Athena but Alex wants something bad to happen with our new friend. I'm debating on killing herd or not since I want her to be a potential romance option. As the readers you tell me what you want, either by PM or reviews. Well I promise chapter 8 will be longer since I'm splitting it up into two parts. If nothing fudges me over i'll have them done within a week. Thank you for reading chapter 7 people. Peace! **


	8. Chapter 8

The Risks We Take Pt.1

Some men succeed by what they know; and a few by what they are.

-Elbert Hubbard

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If you would have asked Alex a month ago what was the most important thing to being a Warlock it would be the Void. The ability to tear your enemies into a nothingness only they could understand. Many Guardians couldn't understand the raw power within them. Now, you were to ask him, he would tell you it was knowledge. Research, studying, learning, growing. Warlocks strived to learn more about the past and the present, in the middle was just the void. With every battle he fought he gained knowledge of not only his enemies but himself.

Sprinkle couldn't understand if he explained to him. The hunter would just laugh and spin his knife around his fingers, whistling a wild west tune just to aggravate him. Shadow would try to understand, he says he does, but Alex knew he couldn't grasp the depth of his understanding.

Now as Alex and Sprinkle stood in front of the temple of Crota, assault rifle in hand and a sick feeling in his gut. Somehow he knew that going down into the very "holy" place the Hive worshiped in was bat-shit crazy. Ghost levitated up behind them still trying to establish a secure link with the speaker. "Have you gotten it yet Ghost?" Sprinkle asked a little anxious, he never liked being on the moon and delving deeper into the rock wasn't his definition of a good time. They finally reached down towards the dead Titan, last time they didn't have time to recover the body, even then what would they do with it? Ghost split open into a sphere of white light, dancing back and forth hoping to get a better lock to the signal. The white-noise in their ears finally cleared up and a females voice spoke to them. A voice broke through the distorted noise.

"You're interesting. Not entirely interesting but… you have promise," she spoke honest and straightforward.

Alex looked around the rocks of the canyon afraid this stranger's voice didn't have good intentions, Sprinkle knew otherwise. If he had to guess correctly it was the exo he had seen the first time they stood in front of the temple. "I'm losing the signal" Ghost stated, he tried harder to reach out.

"Go down face the Hive Guardians and if you live. Come find me." With that the signal was gone and the two stood in silence, Ghost levitated. "I got some broken coordinates. Venus, northern hemisphere, Ishtar region." The two Guardians were already on the move, the sound of roaring from the temple made Sprinkle stop for a second.

"Lets get this over with," Alex muttered. Sprinkle take a deep breath to brace himself.

"Sparkle relax. I doubt will be fighting anything to crazy down there."

"Oh yeah mister space wizard? You know we are dealing with the Hive right?"

"Yes."

Alex shook his head and took the first step in. "I have total faith in you my friend." Sprinkle just pulled out his hand cannon and ignored his friends tone of sarcasm.

Descending further down into the Hive's home sent a chill through the two. Down here they were always outnumbered and outgunned. It might of not have been their first rodeo being down in the depths of the moon but they heard what the Hive does to their victims. Sprinkle gripped Alex by his wrist and yanked him behind a pillar as a squad appeared from a tomb-ship that ripped through some black dimension. The sign of the black ship told them they were headed in the right direction. "We need to get through them," Alex pointed towards the sickening number of thrall, acolytes, and one knight. Being this deep down he could almost feel the darkness eat away at his light. Neverless they would come out on top, as long as they played it safe. Sprinkle drew the long barreled sniper rifle from his back and got to one knee next to the wall. Thrall and acolytes didn't compare to the knights. They were more faster, smarter, aggressive. This was going to be my first kill of the day he thought. Just barely he squeezed the trigger, his sniper rifle sounded like the sharp crack of lightning and the head was blown off the shoulders of the Hive soldier. As mindless as they were they still felt shock, shock at the headless body that flopped to the floor. Alex took this time to strike and jumped through the air shotgun in hand. With two squeezes of his trigger two acolyte disappeared in a matter of seconds, burned away by the invective. Lining up his shot Sprinkle pulled back the trigger and another head of an acolyte exploded in a shower of ash. "Hey! I need some back up down here!" Alex shouted roughly. A wizard came floating around a wall of rocks firing its deadly darkness blasts.

Sprinkles hand cannon was wrapped in solar energy that fueled his entire body. More Hive showed up to overwhelm Alex's position but two combustion shots blew them apart. Alex dropped out of cover in a barrel roll and brought up his assault rifle, round after round wilted it's shields giving Sprinkle the perfect opportunity to take it out with his final round. The two reloaded their weapons and continued on. In front of them the doors opened unexpectedly, the two stood awkwardly till the three knights walked through. Their green eyes seemed to slow time down as the two guardians and three knights seemed locked in a showdown. Alex dove into cover when they fired but Sprinkle wasn't lucky enough. One of those meteorite rounds hit the ground in front of him and he was thrown backwards into the air. Ghost yelled something into his helmet but the hunter couldn't focus. His body slammed into a bed of rocks ripping at the cloak on his back. Something punctured through his armor and he screamed in pain.

"… Punctured lungs… warning… ribs…" His helmets audio was broken, it couldn't even access the damages his body sustained. Alex fought the three knights, holding off till Sprinkle could regain enough health to keep fighting. He willed his body to move but his legs gave out from underneath him and he fell on his hands and knees. The pain was so intense his mind couldn't think straight. Alex kept trying to shout his friends name above the gunfire, a knight charged him and he tossed a vortex grenade to cut it off. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sprinkle attempt to get up once more, the hunter didn't notice a thrall running straight at him. Through the noise he heard the screeching of a thrall and spun around.

Sprinkle made an attempt to draw his hand cannon. His arm came up to slowly and it slashed at him. Painful as it was he spun under the wild swing of the thrall and withdrew his blade. When it jumped him again he thrusted his knife forward and into its head. The blade was ripped from his hand when the thrall fell backwards into the ground. His HUD displayed the jagged piece of rock that punctured a weak part of his armor near his lower back. A little closer to the left and he would of been paralyzed. In his hand he gripped it with a cough of excruciating pain. "Damn it!" He shouted in pain. With everything he had left he yanked the rock from his back and let Ghost quickly seal up the hole in his armor. This had to have been the worst pain he ever felt.

The knight ran at Alex with a burning rage, body covered in a red energy. Before Alex could bring his hands up to defend himself it punched him hard across the helmet sending him into the ground in a heap.

"Get up hunter help him!" Ghost screamed urging him. Sprinkle saw the reason for the distress and ran as fast as he could. Each beat of his heart felt like fire coursing through his veins. The knight took notice of him when he got close and opened fire. The hunter jumped through the air avoiding the blasts. The six shooter materialized into his hand at the same time his feet hit the ground. The knight threw a wild swing at him. "You son of a-" Sprinkle slid under it, its fist inches away from his face, he kicked out its knee making it grunt with pain. Sprinkle jumped kicked the knight knocking it backwards and shoved the barrel of the hand cannon into its throat. Even after the rounds were all spent and the loud clicks were but a distant noise he felt himself still weary of the knight coming back to life.

Alex leaned against the wall breathing heavily.

"Shit man it feels as if I'm under water. Like pressure weighing me down."

"Its the darkness in this place, its like a poison. I still don't know why the vanguard thought the two of us could do this."

Sprinkle finally retrieved his knife from the thrall. Alex switched his shotgun in favor of his AR.

"Come on we need to hurry. The chamber can't be far now," Sprinkle took point, handcannon reloaded with a fresh cylinder.

"Hive on the upper platform Sprinkle." Alex pointed towards the squad of knights and acolytes taking cover behind a rack of swords. Rounds after rounds pinged off the column they took cover behind. Sprinkle spun around their cover taking up the hive in his sights. Five acolytes shot at him missing horribly and he smirked. Five squeezes of the trigger and each of them dropped with a single shot between the eyes. Alex threw a scatter grenade at the remaining hive surrounding the sword rack. The little explosives bounced around imploded the hive soldiers with void-light, each of them tried to run from their demise but to no avail.

Sprinkle and Alex stood atop the ashes of their enemies, tired and ready to finish this fight. They walked down a flight of stairs slowly. The doors to the chamber slowly opened and what they saw inside was horrible. In the middle of the room three siphon witches floated around a huge shard. Black ooze bleed from it, each witches forming a triangle around it with their arms outstretched pulling something from the object.

"Stop stop!" Sprinkle pulled Alex to a stop.

"Why whats wrong?" He asked cocking his head.

"Let me show you how us wild frontiersmen do it." Letting the light pool from his body he lit up like the sun again and spun his golden gun from its holster. Flipping it with his middle finger he put the gun at his hip. The Wizards could sense the light, the heat radiating from behind them. Each Wizard spun around to confront the feeling of light in their temple of dark. Sprinkle didn't even give them the courtesy to fight back and took all three out with the three shots he had. Alex just stood mouth agape, dumbfounded at his friends accuracy and precision with his super. Sure his nova bomb could wipe out a company of enemies but his wasn't so flashy as a golden gun. Did have something to do with the double o-seven carved onto it?

The shard somehow felt familiar. Black ooze still dripped from it but there was no doubt whatever was under the blanket of darkness was full of light. A silent warning bell went off inside their heads and a door in the farthest part of the room opened up. A squad of hive slowly appeared. Sprinkle and Alex hid behind two columns opposite of each other. Alex materialized a rocket launcher in his hand. Under his mask a devilish grin cracked his face. Whipping out of cover the hive stared at him frozen in place by the rocket wielding Guardian.

"May God guide you to your journey to hell," though his words weren't understood by the hive soldiers the flaming rocket he fired from the weapon did. Too little too late it was to evade the oncoming projectile, all the Hive were ingulfed up by the fires of the explosion. More Hive showed up behind them firing. A few rounds hit their armor. Alex brought up his assault rifle, before he could get a shot off he dodged to the left using his light to propel from the rounds. With quick bursts from his weapon he took down another acolyte, another showed up behind it weapon ready to shoot Alex. The glint of Sprinkles knife embedded into its middle eye made him grin. The doors they walked in from opened up and a wave of Thrall came running down the stairs.

"Alex cover the stairs now!" Sprinkle ordered. Alex ran from his cover avoiding the rounds from the hive soldiers.

A hive charged at Sprinkle snarling and snapping its teeth at him. The hunter ran at it equally facing it head on and front kicked it dead in the chest sending it on to its back. Not stopping he ran past its body shooting it in the head killing it. A Knight boomer fired at him forcing him to jump into the air. A round grazed off his armor throwing him off balance in the air. Instantly when his feet hit the ground he pulled out a trip mine grenade and tossed it straight into the face of the knight that surrounded more soldiers. Its explosion blew them all up and the ones that survived were quickly dispatched by his hand cannon. Another loud explosion went off from Alex's rocket launcher that devoured the wave of hive running down the stairs. More showed up much to the Warlocks surprise. He focused all his light into his right hand as much as he could and thrusted his hand out releasing the Nova bomb onto his enemies. The barely spacious staircase and the build up of Hive meant no escaping the wrath of the light and aftermath of its vortex. All was quiet for a moment, they were able to breath, reload, and recover. A roar pierced the very air of the chamber. It was so loud the sound of Ghost warning them couldn't be heard. Telthor the ogre stepped forth from the left of them. Its hideous body was covered in bumps and plating that served as a natural armor. It's bulbous head looked swollen, transformed by the witches to fit their own demonic needs. Sprinkle rolled out of the way avoiding the blasts from its forehead. Alex blinked closer to the ogre with his shotgun in hand. Each round hit the ogre staggering it, Alex was too cocky though and didn't realize how thick the plating really was. The ogre smashed the ground with brute strength throwing him off his feet. If it wasn't for blink he would have been flattened against the wall.

"You fight it like that it's going to kill you Alex! Focus!" Sprinkles own words were thrown back at him when a more hive soldiers showed up. When one ran around cover it met its end quickly from a round from his revolver. A void blast nearly hit him, the ogre had turned its sights on him and began to charge the hunter. Just as another blast almost hit him Alex blinked in grabbing him then blinked out. Once they reappeared Sprinkle grabbed at his stomach drive heaving.

"Holy mama now I know why Shadow doesn't like that," He complained.

Alex just slapped reloaded his shotgun "it was either that or die. I can blink you back if you want?"

Sprinkle just shook his head. Another blast hit the cover they hid behind. "Is your light charged up enough?" Alex asked. Sprinkle drew his knife, his body crackled with light then erupted with sparks of lightning. "Does this answer your question?"

Alex filled his own body with what light he had left. Alex blinked into the air above Telthor. Once again he released his Nova bomb, weaker than the last one but enough to stagger the ogre.

Slashing and dashing with his blade. The remaining hive couldn't keep up with the hunters amazing agility and speed. He cut through them like butter. Relentless he was in his attack all the way to the Ogre Alex managed to weaken. Sprinkle kicked off a nearby pillar into the air. The ogre fired its blasts at him almost hitting him if it wasn't for Alex who blinked in front of the ogre with his shotgun.

He emptied the weapon into its forehead this time and the beast roared in rage. It brought its fists down on the Guardian hoping to smash him under its firsts. To bad he was to fast and jumped out of the way in time giving Sprinkle the moment he needed to finish the job. As Sprinkle landed on top of Telthors shoulders hacking and slashing a menacing grin appeared on his face. The ash staining everything. The arc burned the ogre creating spider webs of burnt lighting into its flesh until the beast could take no more of its pain and fell to its knees.

Sprinkle wasn't done. He kept slashing and slashing till his visor was covered in its ash, one more stab finished off the abomination. Telthors soft whimper died out like the rest of the Hive in the room. They had won.

Sprinkle sat atop of the thing, wiping the ash from his knife. The knife he used was dull and worn from his relentless attacks.

Ghost appeared next to Alex who tried not to vomit, he felt so sick. "Set me down on the terminal. Lets see what this thing is"

Just as he was told Alex walked up the stairs to the terminal in front of the object. "Nothing like a little old Hive to end the-"

The ooze that surrounded the object dissipated revealing a shard that irradiated with light so bright it burned the ooze that stained Sprinkles armor.

"mission… this is a piece of the Traveller" Ghost finished. All of them were too silent to say anything. All of this was too crazy to take in. How was the Hive so strong they could harness the light from the Traveller itself? This was all so crazy.

The shard disappeared in a flash light. The ritual was over and they were able to go home. "How long will it take the ships to get close enough to beam us out Ghost?" Sprinkle asked, his eyes were growing heavy with exhaustion and all he wanted to do was sleep.

"Approximately five minutes. Relax for a bit ill tell you if any dangers appear."

Both Sprinkle and Alex sat next to each other. Alex broke the two minutes of silence.

"We're going to Venus next aren't we?"

Sprinkle took a moment to think then spoke. "Yeah man. We need to check up on those coordinates that voice spoke of. Our job isn't done just yet."

Alex sigh heavily with a shake of the head. "You think Shadow and Athena are done with their mission?"

"My friend I hope they are." Sprinkle couldn't help but gaze up towards the ceiling, he wanted to leave already. Just as the ship beamed them up Alex couldn't but chuckle in a mixture of passive anger and exhaustion. "The risks we take right?" The ship beamed them up and they left, to home.

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**Well this took a little bit longer than necessary. No joke I was suppose to have this done two days ago but I needed to beat the weekly heroic with my Warlock which did not happen.**

**Chapter 8 Pt.1 is done and Pt.2 should be done by tomorrow… or by Friday either way, the readers shall receive . Hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you have anything to say drop a review.**


	9. Chapter 8 Pt2

The Risks We Take Pt.2

"Ghost what does shadow mean?" Athena asked in a soft whisper. Her new companion in the backseat was sound asleep and she didn't want to disturb him. The hum of the ships engines slowly began to lull her too.

Ghost chirped in response then spoke. "Its a dark area or shape," the feminine voice of her Ghost explained. Athena always thought the female voice of her A.I was odd. It always made her feel better. "Why would someone name him Shadow?" She asked herself. Then again she was name after a Greek Goddess. The dark skinned warrior in her backseat stirred in his sleep when the ship hit some turbulence. Which was abnormal since they were in space.

The ship banked again and a warning siren went off in the little cockpit. "Ghost what the hell-" another force hit the ship. This time the shields protecting them flickered dangerously. Whatever hit them was aiming to kill.

Her Ghost activated the defence array, "Were being attacked Guardian. Its the fallen… a Ketch!"

A shadow fell over the Guardians ship. The Titan in the back seat had already woken up and looked upwards through the canopy. A Ketch floated above them. Larger than anything he has ever seen. The belly of the behemoth sized ship gun ports opened up and out came AA turrets aiming at them. Athenas stomach dropped. "Ghost evasive maneuvers!" she yelled. It was too late. One, two, three shots hit the ship. The shields of the ship took the first two but the third broke through the ship and their world was turned upside down. The engine to the back of the ship was hit, it blew up violently throwing Shadow back into his seat. His heart leaped out of his chest when the ship flipped upside down then dipped downwards.

Down and down they went plummeting back towards Earth like a ball being dropped. The Ketch seemed satisfied at the fact the Guardians would die such a horrible death and hyper jumped to God knew where.

"Were gonna crash into Earth!" Athena yelled in panic. "Our landing gear is wrecked and the shields won't recharge. We have no way of slowing down and if the atmosphere doesn't burn us up the impact will smash us into pieces." The planet grew closer and closer with every second.

"Think Shadow think. You've survived being squashed to death you can survive this." Another explosion ripped more of the ships tail end out and an idea finally came to mind, he grinned nervously under his helmet.

"Athena are you able to channel the Void? Can you throw of a Ward of Dawn?" He asked through the comm. Ghost had synched their helmets internal comms to communicate with no problems.

She paused for a moment then spoke. "Yes, yes! If we both throw one up before we hit the atmosphere it should hold out long enough for us to break through."

All the movement in the ship made him want to vomit. It was like being in a never ending rollercoaster. Although the safety straps of his seat held him firmly he began to worry when the ship began to rip apart behind him. Metal ripped and tore away, creating an etch a sketch pattern next to him. He couldn't even yell out when the ship tore apart. Quick thinking saved his life when he grabbed the straps of his seat. It began to give out from the pull of gravity and finally ripped from his grasp. Shadow banged off the roof of the ship from another explosion. A series of nets on a cargo crate saved him when his foot was snagged in the mesh. The thought of being sucked into space terrified the Titan.

Athena looked back at him and tried to unbuckle her own straps but he waved her off quickly. The second her straps were released from her buckle she would be sucked out into the black nothing. Not even her Ghost would be able to bring her back from that. Earth grew so close he could start to feel the tug of its gravitational pull. Shadow wasn't going to risk her his body he could feel the light power him. The Titan forced the void light from the center of his body and out his hands creating a bubble big enough to shield himself and Athena. Just like he thought, gravity was returned to the bubble and he fell on to his back inside the ship. "Athena the shield won't last long. You need to throw yours up just before we hit the atmosphere. Do you understand?"

Her only response was a nod then she stood up in front of him.

Athena threw up her bubble just as the first flames of the mesosphere came into view. The coolant gel layer in Shadows skin tight suit activated but it did little to cool him down. Their HUD went off like a fire alarm, warning them that the shields of their were decreasing slowly. Once the red began to cloud his vision he put his hands up to defend himself from the blinding light. Shadows ward began to flicker, giving out from the flames pressure.

"It's not gonna last Athena…" The ward went from a purple to a hot red then dispersed, unable to defend them no longer.

Like a spear it stabbed through Athenas Dawn threatening to pop it. If it wasn't for Shadows quick thinking it would have. They both threw their hands out forcing their own void energy to reinforce it.

Her nose began to bleed under her helmet from the stress of trying to fight the flames. "Now that I think about it we probably won't survive the crash." Shadow thought she was insane when she chuckled but he could hear the fear in it. Finally the ship broke through the atmosphere and the dawn faltered leaving them in free fall. A skyscraper came into the view as they broke through the clouds. Snow blanketed the city they were crashing upon. It wasn't Russia thats for sure. Something clicked in Shadows head and he tried to grab on to whatever it was, like reeling in a fish for the catch. Their trajectory thrown off when the ship clipped a building spinning them out of control towards another skyscraper that touched the sky. All Shadow saw when the ship collided was Athena turn back and grab him in a full hug, protecting him, then all was covered in a blanket of darkness.

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Blood dripped down his face like wet paint. His visor was cracked distorting all his vitals, ammo count, map, etc. Even his timer was wrecked but he could just barely make out 10:13. He had to have been out for at least four hours. A sort of cold numbness chilled his bones, white flakes slowly rained from the sky covering his armor, even Athena was covered… Athena!

Her frail form laid next to him. One arm at her stomach, the other trying to reach something on his body. Shadow gave her a confused look then grimaced when he tried to move. A piece of metal stuck out of his left leg, jutting out from underneath his armor. Whether it'd be shock or adrenaline he didn't feel pain. He knew eventually the pain would kick in and he would feel it. Already his blood stained the snow underneath him.

"Titans get up now!" Athenas Ghost whispered in a harsh tone, it floated up from the snow, shaking the white flakes from its shell. Shadow tried to force a chuckle, "one step at a time Ghost" he replied, his voice sounded hoarse. His hands reached up towards his helmet and he yanked it off to take in the cold air.

Athenas body shook then she was up, hand on his chest looking around her once beautiful ship. The cockpit was destroyed, nothing but a ball of scrap. A large metal beam created a sort of bridge for them to crawl out of, it just missed barely missed Shadows left arm. Athena pushed up off the ground with a pained expression. When he pointed to the wound she just waved him off and climbed the beam. Blood dripped from her armored fingers. Her beautiful red hair was matted to her skin in a mixture of blood and sweat.

"Funny… everything is going blurry…" Athena's words were slurred and she began to fall to the side. Shadow jumped out of the rubble as fast as his injured leg would take him. He just barely managed to snake his arms under her for the catch. Ghost danced around her panicking. "Heavy concussion, internal bleeding from a puncture wound. Shadow she needs more than light, she needs medical attention." A glow around her armor radiated healing any and all visible wounds. "I'm applying light to her minor wounds Guardian but she needs to get back to Earth. Shadow looked out among the snow blanketed city, why did it seem so familiar? Huge buildings once used as hotels, electronic companies, hospitals. More buildings for tourists to buy food and other iconic things long forgotten. One word clicked in his mind, Alaska he thought. Yeah This must be Alaska! That was the memory his mind was trying to latch on to.

Breaking out of his stupor he finally shook his head and focused on the task at hand.

"Ghost can you fix my leg?"

"Yes Titan. All you need to do is remove the scrap and let me do the work. Athena has already allowed me to assist you in any way I can, even if you are not my Guardian."

Shadow gritted his teeth and grabbed the metal, he pulled it from his leg without a second thought. Pain finally ripped through his body and he screamed in pain, Ghost used its light to heal him. It began to seal up, even his armor was being fixed like stitch work. "Ghost can you get ahold of the Tower. If I remember correctly Alaska isn't too far from the Tower."

Ghost chirped a couple of times then shook its shell. "No Guardian I can't seem to get a lock on the Tower. But no far from here there's an old U.S Air Force base. I'm picking up a faint energy signature, could be our ticket out."

Athena's Ghost was all he needed to hear. After his leg felt good enough to put weight on, he piggy backed the unconscious Guardian then began to walk down the exit stairs. It did little to protect him from Alaska cold. A flashback made him take a step back. It was him standing on top of a snow hill fighting some kids in a battle of take the hill. It quickly ended as fast as it came leaving him with more questions. Ten minutes it took to get down to the bottom floor, the squeaking of the cold metal staircase bore their weight no longer and gave out. Both fell about thirty feet before hitting the ground. Armor and Snow pretty much protected them from the blunt of the impact but it still left Shadow breathless. After regaining himself he picked himself up, got Athena up on to his back, and walked out the door that lead outside. The staircase was so dark it blinded him so when he opened the door. It was like coming out of a cave. Being down on the ground level was so different from being above. The buildings felt like the were looming over you and the streets were covered in snow as far as the eye could see. A graveyard of vehicles decorated them like ancient coffins. Their had to at least be a thousand vehicles on the streets. "Its so sad" Ghost said floating up from behind him. Shadow looked out among the cars, skeletons covered in snow from head to toe.

He stepped off of the curb and into the graveyard of the dead. Ghost had set up a waypoint of him towards the base. Funny how she said it was five miles from here to there. Neverless he walked through the blanket of snow. The wound on her forehead sealed up along with the cut on her lip. The one that decorated her cheek still was there, it was weird that it was their.

"How did she get the scar on her cheek?" Shadow asked.

Ghost looked at her Guardian then made a sound that sounded like a sigh.

"Three years ago she was out on a recon mission with her husband. A hunter that was of the purest light. While out on the mission they fell under heavy fire on mars and… Hunters armor isn't the strongest. She had to leave him on mars, he told her to because he wanted her to live on, to keep fighting. The second she reached the tower she used his knife to cut herself. To always remember."

Shadow looked behind him at the women. His heart bled for the Titan, he was about to say something when the sound of rumbling filled the air. From across the street an army of Fallen walked in ranks that scoured the blanket of snow. His heart rate picked up from the size.

He ran to the nearest store he could and kicked in the door. The store was deserted a long time ago so when he flipped over a table to use as cover he had no regrets. Softly he leaned Athena right next to him, leaning her up against the table and pulled out his Red hand IX from underneath his torn mark.

The sound of Fallen walkers drove out the sound of his beating heart. The shrills of Dreg and Vandal made his blood turn to ice in this Alaskan cold. Even the sound of electricity dancing off the blades of the Captains made him panic. This didn't stop for at least ten minutes. On and on they marched, crushing everything in their paths under their feet. The walkers had no problem blowing up a few. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something flicker. It was just for a moment but when he trained his eye on it the movement happened again and he aimed down his weapon praying inside that it wasn't a Vandal. Just as he was about to squeeze the trigger the camouflaged dropped and their crouched ten feet in front of him was a Guardian. Clad in white and held a sniper rifle in her hand aimed straight at him. One finger stayed on the trigger while the other put a finger up to where their lips would be behind their helmet. The Guardian told him to stay quiet.

A dreg walked into the store. It's heavy footsteps creaking the wooden floor. The hunter that was next to him disappeared once more much to his annoyance. Can't use your hand cannon he thought to himself. Shadow laid the weapon down next to him and waited for the Dreg to be at least two feet from his cover before he sprang. Gripping the Fallen by its head he slammed it down on to its head with enough force to kill it. Ten seconds after he killed it the sound of a walkers swivel turret turning towards him made him freeze. Peaking from over the table slowly he dropped back down. Literally three walkers aimed their high powered cannons at the store. Athena began to stir just as he picked up his cannon. He had no idea if a Dawn could hold off three shots from those walkers. It seemed impossible and as reckless as he was with Athena next to him he didn't want to test his luck. One of the walkers took a pot shot in the store blowing out the back of the wall. Shadow was thrown out on to the floor. His ears ringing from the sound of the deadly blast, no helmet was a real bitch. The army of Fallen stared at the Guardian hiding inside the shop. A hundred eyes bore into the back of his skull seething with rage.

Shadow threw up a bubble as the fire began. It gave him enough time to grab Athena and run out hole the walker created for them. Another blast hit the shop throwing him off his feet but got up quickly. A pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him behind the alley. He tried to fight back against the hands when he realized it was the hunter that disappeared.

"Don't talk just listen," the hunter ordered, their voice was firm, quick to the point.

"My name is not important so don't ask. I'm apart of the G.F.S.R. Guardian frontier scouting and reconnaissance. I have been scouting the army of Fallen you just seen for two weeks all the way from canada. I have reason to believe they are trying to assault the City."

Shadow's jaw practically dropped. Fighting Hive on the moon was one thing, an army of Fallen set out to destroy his home was another. The footsteps of the Fallen could be heard around the corner. It Sounded like Vandals, maybe a captain. "Come with me now," she insisted. Shadow wasn't going to fight back, he took off after the hunter. They came out on the other side of the alleyway. His arms began to feel like lead. Though Athena began to mumble, she wasn't yet conscious. "We're almost home Athena," his own words did little to reassure him.

The hunters Ghost appeared from behind her shoulder then disappeared. A ship hidden under camouflage uncloaked in the middle of the streets. A Regulus Class 99 ship shaded in all white kicked up snow as it began to power up its engines. All three Guardians were teleported into the ship that shortly blasted off from the streets, the state became nothing more than a speck of white, a blanket covered in snow. Shadow was scared of what was to come. An army that big, with that much firepower would be hard to defeat, he was scared but he knew they would find a way. They had to.

* * *

Well I have to admit this chapter was a little lame for being part two. I promise though chapter nine will be pretty legit. Hope you enjoyed this little chapter. Have a nice one.


	10. Chapter 10

Ashes to Ashes

"Damn man I need some rest…" A Titan to the left of Sprinkle complained. Even the hunter was to tired to reply back. Holding an SR for three days straight made his arms feel like wet noodles. On the second day his shoulder began bruising from the constant recoil. Another boom ran throughout the Russian barracks shaking his world. "Fuck I hate that thing" Sprinkle cursed, dust and small rubble rained down on his helmet adding to his annoyance. The nameless Titan next to him tried to hide his shaking by squeezing his arm but it did little to help. Who could blame him when an army of approximately nearly 8,000 Fallen sat outside your door. Just another day right?

Alex ran into the room, his eyes red from the non-stop war. Alex seemed agitated, "Get up, Lord Shaxx needs us at the meeting room." Sprinkle slung his sniper rifle over his back and slowly stood up, even standing made him feel dizzy. He was so tired. The two made their way towards the meeting room down the end of the corridor. Hunters, Warlocks, Titans, laid in the hallway either dead or asleep. This was the only place with enough concrete walls to muffle the sound of the fighting outside. Another boom shook the hall and Alex stumbled against the wall. "Fuck off mate!" A hunter shouted. Alex shook his head at the Guardian, he stepped on his cloak by accident. Walls cracked from the reverberation of the blasts from two hundred devil walkers lined up. If it wasn't for the Aegis shield around the entire fortress they would have been dead in a matter of hours. Further they walked passing hunter snipers and Titans fortifying the wall of the great Aegis shield. Out on the front lines fought a hundred Guardians warring with Fallen after Fallen. They were made up of veterans from the Twilight Gap. You couldn't even see the poor bastards fighting in the trenches. Make shift barricades, ancient trees, Ward of Dawns, anything was used as cover to hide from the onslaught of gunfire being traded. Sprinkle could make out a gunslinger wielding two golden guns under the rain and lighting from above. He took down at least three dozen Fallen before a bullet from a revear Vandal silenced his guns. Poor bastard...

In the meeting room stood Lord Shaxx, Shadow, Athena, and other Guardian leaders. As the two entered he could see Shadow slamming his fist on a table that exploded from his arc rage. "We defended the east wall as best as we could! You refused! You denied my pleas for help!" Shadows rage exploded. Just in a matter of seconds he leapt across the room and grabbed the Warlock. With his arm across the warlocks chest he pinned him down and raised his right fist ready to smash his head in. A blast erupted from the Warlocks hand and Shadow was thrown violently back into the wall. The Titan quickly recovered and erupted into a silhouette of pure arc-energy. Even Shaxx was taken aback by the sheer power that bursted from him.

"Shadow calm down!" Sprinkle yelled jumping into the conflict before his friend killed everyone in the room. The electricity from Shadow bit at him but it quickly dissolved when Alex and him pinned down the enraged warrior. Athena couldn't do anything. The Warlocks face held no expression, he did not care whether a few Titans and hunters were killed. Only his Warlocks would stand strong among the ashes.

Shadow would never forget what had happened just moments ago.

* * *

Lightning beat down on the pylons used to give the rails guns extra kick. Huge behemoth guns that tore through everything in its path, the four massive weapons fired relentlessly for three days straight. After Shadow had gotten back to the Tower The Vanguard leaders had already heard of the army massing to assault the City. It was smaller in size compared to the Twilight Gap but they didn't want to take a chance. An army of 300 Guardians were sent to defend Russia using an old Nato military base after the Twilight Gap. It was taken by Fallen centuries ago but now retaken. Luckily the Fallen hadn't discovered its truth purpose. To defend anything that tried to attack the city. Their was four of these bases. Each of them were called phalanxes, used to hold back the darkness for the collapse. Each one would created a shield that wrapped around europe closing it into a huge bubble that blocked anything from getting in or out. What little good they did. Two days of preparing for the Fallen strike gave them enough time to get settled in, fixing the shields and even the old raingun defenses. The fortress that sat on top of cliff that overlooked the valley below. Two mountains on each side of the valley created a sort of funnel for the guardians to their advantage. Everything was going well if it wasn't for the Devil walkers that seemed to keep coming. Another strike of lightening hit the pylon to the east charging the rail gun which crackled with so much power Shadow thought it would burst. The gun fired carving a straight path through at least fifty walkers. What stood left was burnt ether. The Aegis shield held strong and true but Shaxx kept getting reports that its power was faltering.

To the left and right of the phalanx bridges around the surrounding mountains blocking off any and all sort of invasion. The only way through was THROUGH the fortress.

A gap in the shield was created from heavy bombardment. Titans used Arc to power of the shield but it was going to take a little time. Scanners showed Fallen were pouring through by the dozen. Shadow were at the east bridge leading with Athena when it cracked open. Anti-fighter turrets on each side of the bridge gunned down any Fallen foolish enough to crawl over the wall of dead Fallen that piled up. A vandal jumped up from the dead and fired its shock rifle. A scream was heard from the tower then the turret stopped firing. More Fallen began to get past the second turret. Shadow leaned out of cover gunning down anything in front of him. That wasn't so hard when the only thing in your sights was enemies. A hunter to the left of him dropped, chest torn open by a Dregs shrapnel launcher. Another hunter by the name of Leon cursed under his breath. "Get to that turret now!" Shadow ordered. Leons face was stern but he understood clearly. Blood from his head stained his face masking him in crimson red. If he hadn't tried to save another hunter from a sword wielding captain he wouldn't have been hurt, and lost his helmet. Leon back flipped into the air lifting him twenty feet into the air then blinked into the seat of the turret. The Titan that manned the anti-infantry turret laid dead in a pool of her own blood. Leon just imagined the light draining from her eyes. It made him sick.

Athena crouched next to Shadow reloading her rocket launcher. She popped out of cover taking in the sights of an Archon Priest then squeezed the trigger. The rocket soared strong and true striking the Fallen, half of its body laid split open among its other dead comrades. This did little to deter the army as they continued to pour through and take cover behind boulders along the cliffs edge.

Three Guardians fell under bullet fire. The pile kept stacking up till the bodies fell over in massive heap of dead bodies. Ether poured from bullet holes riddled into the chest of Fallen. Two shielded Archon Priests came bounding over the dead. Both weilded massive Shrapnel launchers. Before anyone could warn each other the Fallen priests teleported danced in and out of focus using their short range teleportation devices. Athena pulled out her shotgun as a priest jumped over their barricade cutting down Guardians. She fired two shots at the Fallen dropping its shields. One Guardian tried to take the chance to take it down with a storm fist. It grabbed her by the throat and threw her to the Dreg and vandal, in a matter of seconds she was stabbed to death. Even her Ghost was but a speck of light among them. Shadow jumped over the barricade hoping to stop the massacre. Leon would have helped them down below if it wasn't for the amount of Fallen still pouring through the gap. Shadow roared a battlecry and rammed his arc-charged fist through its face, the priests head was caved in like a smashed pumpkin. Ether spewed out from where its head used to be and the body fell over the side of the bridge. Athena one handed her shotgun when she pulled on a hunter who took a bullet straight to both legs. A Dreg jumped through the air at her and she squeezed the trigger blowing its chest wide open. Two hunters screamed when when a captain cut them down with its dual blades. Shadow kept trying to save more of his comrades but the fight was turning. A video call from the Warlock Draco gave him hope. The awoken man stood with his hands behind his back, face expressionless as the dead.

"Draco we need you now! I don't think we can hold on any longer!" Shadow paused. He slung his assault rifle on to his back and drew the Red hand IX from under his mark.

Two Dreg and a vandal dropped dead from high caliber rounds to the head.

Out of the thirty Guardians that stood and defended the east bridge only six still drew breath. The shield was repaired and it closed off the breach. Now a battalion of Fallen stood against them.

The Warlock snickered at the Titan. "Why should we do that huh? You Titans and hunters are so weak compared to my Praxic Warlocks." Shadows stomach did a 360. "No...no! Draco We need you there's only a few of us we won't survive-" the call was dropped before he could finish.

"Draco? Draco!?" The Titan roared again. No reply. A Titan fell into Shadows side gripping her shoulder that bled with blood. The warrior tried to pull her behind him but a round from a vandals sniper ended her struggle. "Fuck" he screamed when her blood spewed from her head coating his visor in blood blinding him for a moment. Leon blinked out of the turret tower as the Archon priest teleported into the tower killing the other turret gunner who wasn't so lucky. He landed next to Shadow with his scout rifle drawn firing back. Athena shot her last rocket at the mass amounts of Fallen that jumped over their barricade. The blast doors sirens began to slowly close behind them. Everyone stopped firing when the doors began to close and ran. Shadow couldn't blame them, for they had watched as their comrades were cut down by the Fallen. Shadows hand cannon clicked empty and he cursed. There was no way in hell everyone would make it to those doors without being killed. The Titan looked back at Athena who already reached the doors.

She spun around and beckoned him. "SHADOW HURRY!" The Titan yelled over the wailing alarms.

A Titan next to him had thrown up a Ward of Dawn protecting them from a wall of gunfire. Two unlucky Guardians who didn't reach the shield in time were slaughtered. Something bursted inside Shadow when he looked down at his bloodied hands. A volcano of purge rage coursed through his blood, boiling, erupting, seething from his bones.

"_**Their dead because of you Titan. You couldn't lead them. Do you see the look in Athena's eye? The pain? A mere Warlock beat you. Not the Fallen. Will you go down running or with the blood of your enemies on your fists?"**_

Shadows subconscious lured him to fight a losing battle. Six guardians sat under the dawn breathing heavily, preparing for the final run to the doors. When the others ran Shadow didn't. Arc rippled off his armor bouncing around the ward like a plasma globe. The other Guardians had enough sense to keep going without . Shadow jumped out of the Dawn and smashed the overpass they stood upon. Fallen, rubble, dead Guardians, were all eradicated from the lighting he perpetuated from his fists. A priest across from him swung at the Titan but he blocked the blow with his right hand and punched through the chest of fallen. The blast doors began to close. Shadow rampaged on killing any and everything his eyes set upon. Leon wasn't going to let him be locked out. Just as Shadow swung at another fleeing Dreg he blinked behind him and grabbed the Titan in a strong vice then blinked back just as the doors closed. Everyone stepped back from Shadow afraid his wrath would kill them. If it wasn't for the scared look in Athenas eyes he probably have. The arc died down from his body and he fought back the urge to vomit. They did bled and died for their duty, now Draco was going to die for not doing his.

* * *

Draco almost fought back Lord Shaxx when the Titan grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the floor.

Like a pinball machine his head rikershaded. Shaxx headbutted him in the face as his head came back up, breaking the Warlocks nose.

"You-" Draco began. Blood spattered his black coat.

"All those Guardians died Warlock. You left their team to die out there." Shaxx's english accent was just as strong as his fists it seems. Draco finally had a look of fear. The Titan let go of him and stepped back towards Shadow who tried not to run at the bastard again.

"Shadow, Sprinkle head to the front lines. Our men need some back up!"

None of them argued and they left the room without a sound. Shadow only balled his fists when Draco looked at him. A grin on his pale face.

The titan stopped and got face to face with him. "You will burn for this I swear it." With that he shoved past the warlock and left before the worst side of him killed the man.

Shaxx slammed a fist down on the table. "The Fallen are but a few now warriors. We fight in the light of the Traveller. Go forth and bathe in the blood of our enemies." Shaxx's words filled the remaining Guardians in the room with vigor. Each and every one of them had already fought, bled for the city already. This fight would not be their last.

Alex stepped up to their leader. "Sir why am I not going to the front lines? The west wall is well guarded. Both Rail guns are still operational."

Shaxx looked between Alex and Athena. "You two will lead the strongest Praxic Warlocks around the Fallen. Your job is to take out a servitor that is powering the Fallen army. Destroy the servitor, you destroy the army."

Two Titans stepped up behind Draco and locked his wrists with cuff links that drained him of all his light. "Draco, leader of the Praxic warlocks. You are being stripped of your position and are being put under arrest for killing your brothers and sisters." Shaxx let the words sink into Draco's heart. If the Warlock understood he didn't show it, his face was like stone, eyes burning like fire. The two Titans behind him pushed Draco out of the room and headed to the brig.

The lord sighed heavily. Being the highest rank at the fortress drove him nuts, he relied on the other team leaders to keep him updated at all times. Draco's refusal to back up Shadows forces put a dent in the Praxic Warlocks. He would appoint Drac's second in command to lead the Warlocks behind enemy lines.

Another boom of lighting shook the fortress. Either that or the rail guns. A squad of guardians walking past Alex and Athena. One of the members helmet chest piece was cracked. Alex heard another one of them debating with the Titan who only grinned. "I didn't get shot. I never get shot. I just bodychecked the missile." Everyone in his squad laughed at that. The Titan himself couldn't even decide if it was a joke or fact.

Alex looked Athena up and down. Her body had an athletic build to it that he liked. Skinny as she was he knew she could hold her own against any Fallen that dared attacked her. "I'd put her in a pretzel" he thought to himself.

"Why didn't the second in time stop Draco?" Athena asked breaking Alex's lewd thoughts.

Alex took a moment to think. "Now that I think about it we haven't heard a thing from them since they on the front lines."

Now that they both thought about it Draco was the only Praxic they saw. They took a left to where they thought the mystic warriors would freeze and froze at the sight. Medics worked to try and patch of more than half the warlocks that were sent to the frontline. A Warlock with his arm blown off was being pinned down, struggling against his friends and medics who tried to stick him with a needle to help with the pain. Another sat off by himself holding his stomach. By the time a medic reached him his head slumped to the side and his blood stained Ghost worked to heal his wounds. One warlock stepped up. His Exo eyes were grey and dull. Black matte plating and a red splash tattoo designed across his armor. When the Exo spoke his inner circuitry glowed grey.

"I'm Morningstar-606" the exo voice was light but heavy. The weight of the dead around him dimming his light.

Alex and Athena shook his firm hand.

"Draco has been relieved of his position Morningstar. You are now in charge of the warlocks," Alex didn't regret not sugar coating the news.

He just laughed. "Aw that fool. Draco shouldn't have had us try to storm those devil walkers."

Alex shook his head in dibelief. "From the looks of it the tanks won."

"Your bluntness is agrivatting me Warlock!" The Exo spat.

Athena didn't like where this was headed and interveened. "Look! This fight needs to end right here and now. Our goal is to flank the Fallen army, take out its servitor, and end this."

Both Warlocks quit their glarring and stepped down. "Your right Athena," Alex looked at Morningstar. "And I apologize. Kind of hard to remember sympathy when the blood of another Guardian stains your armor."

Seven Warlocks stood up from the others. One of them erupted in a pure surge of void-light, "We do not ask for sympathy, we ask for vengance."

Another explosion shook their world and a Titan came running through the door bleeding from his arm then dropped suddenly. Athena ran over and held the man in her arms. "T-they…" the man turned his head and coughed blood on to the floor. "The lift is destroyed… they blew it up…" A few medics ran over and helped the Titan from her arms. His blood stained her arms and chest.

Alex ran over wondering why she hadn't gotten up from her knees.

When he reached her she finally sprung up and grabbed the Warlock by the Chest. "Their trapped out their Alex!"

Alex's eyes widened like saucers. He ran faster than his legs to take him and he fell on his hands, this didn't stop him and he kept willing his legs to move. After passing another corner he could hear the sounds of yelling. Ahead of him where the lift once was was fire and wrecage. Guardians tried to put out the fire but their was no way of getting through the rubble even if they did. Shadow and Sprinkle were outside on the front lines with an army of Fallen.

Athena came running down the hall breathing heavily.

Alex heard something tear then looked back at was the lift. A hole big enough to fit one person exposed the downward shaft.

He looked back at Athena then the shaft. "Leave no one behind," he muttered under his breath before turning back towards the his feet took off again he felt renewed and fine. Like his heart was agreeing with the idea.

Athena screamed at him to stop and he prayed her and the others would kill the servitor before they all died out their.

Void glowed from his body and he blinked through the gap and down the shaft to his friends, his family.


	11. Chapter 11

Not Gonna Die

Clouds bellowed and crackled again like dark pillows of anger. The trees in the Valley seemed to cry from from weapon fire that tore at their ancient old bodies. Mud, blood, and rain mixed beneath their feet creating a purplish muk that stuck to their armor like paint. The sky roared again, roaring like the god of thunder himself bringing his wrath on Fallen and Guardians alike. Another crack from the sky and a whip of lightning struck a devil walker blowing it up from the inside out. Whoever was inside the spider tank must of been black as charcoal.

It had been ten minutes since Alex jumped down the elevator shaft and into the chaos. All he could see was rounds from a thousand Fallen, the railguns own destructive fire set ablaze trees, killing Fallen by the numbers. Guardians fought behind trenches built in front of the phalanx that loomed hundreds of feet over them. When he saw the amount of Fallen being cut down by plasma turrets he thought they were winning. He was mistaken.

A strike of lightning killed a Guardian.

To the right of Sprinkle something slammed into him. The hunter went to grab his knife from his thigh then realized it was a Warlock. Dead in his arms. Shadow leaned down and pulled the body from atop his friend and helped him up. "I don't think were gonna last long out here" he said reloading his magazine. Sprinkle was too busy trying to reload his fusion rifle to speak. Alex jumped between the two with his shotgun in his hands panting from exhaustion.

"I… Need… Fuck I can barely breath," he panted through clenched teeth.

Sprinkle smiled at his friend's sudden appearance. "Nice of you to join us, we were running out of bait!" Sprinkle yelled over gunfire.

You would think the Fallen would just overwhelm them with their numbers, well they tried, but the combined fire coming from the railgun, Guardians, and plasma turrets on the fortress cut them to shreds. The 8,000 Fallen (mind the 3,000 that retreated) had turned to a crumbling 1,000 in four hours. Not without their own Guardians taking casualties.

A salvo from a devil walker hit the Earth throwing up mud and dead Fallen. Shadow said something from under his breath then reached behind them and grabbed a rocket launcher from a dead Titan. It was gold and white plated, decorated like some ancient drawing that gave it a beautiful yet deadly look. Inscribed on the weapon near the wolf head was _Gjallarhorn _in shimmering gold.

He mounted the weapon on his shoulder and laid his finger on its trigger, his right hand grabbed the black grip.

Both Sprinkle and Alex jumped out of the way when he squeezed the trigger narley avoiding the blast. The recoil forced Shadow to take a step back to avoid being thrown off his feet. The rocket soared parted the rain and hit the leg of the devil walker destroying its platting. Upon impact it bursted open dropping clusters bombs that hit its neck. The walker seemed to panic from the rounds then blew up engulfing its allies in flames.

Alex reloaded his shotgun and popped up from cover holding down the trigger of his invective. A squad of Fallen advancing through no-mans-land dropped dead five feet from the trenches.

"The lift is still out" Sprinkle exclaimed. "Unless anyone knows a way out were screwed!" Just as he finished saying that a barrage of gunfire ripped through a hunters shield next to him. His Ghost would have healed him if it wasn't for the three bullets that destroyed its shell.

The threes own Ghost floated from behind Sprinkle angry.

Ghost was louder than the gunfire. "Alex you fool you were to go kill that servitor!"

All of them wandered by out of all the Ghosts that the traveller created theirs had such a bad attitude.

"Ghost you know I wouldn't have just left them out here. Were family!" He defended himself.

Shadow pulled a flash grenade out and blindy tossed it. The screams of Fallen put a smile on his face. "He's right Ghost. Since day one we've been together. You should know this." Shadow sided with Alex.

"_Fools all of you!" Ghost shouted in their heads as he materialized into light._

Sprinkle understand Ghost just a bit. The little bot was the one that brought them to life.

"We're the three Musketeers Ghost," Sprinkle sighed with a grin, "All for one and one for all!" Shadow finished raising his rifle into the air. Sprinkle just mentally shot himself at the sheer cheesiness of his words.

Alex and Sprinkle looked at each other and died inside. "I fucking hate you guys."

A Titan came jumping from behind them and raised his machine gun. Rounds after rounds tore through Fallen armor like wet paper. More Titans rallied at this and fired their heavy weapons creating a five man wall of awesome. A maelstrom of gunfire. Hunters whipped out golden guns in their own little fashion and aimed for the legs of two more devil walkers that drew closer. In under two minutes both were destroyed. Once the smoke cleared from the explosion, the Titans machine guns stopped firing, hunters golden guns disappeared. Everything was so quiet.

Someone began to roar in triumph then another followed up by the last fifty Guardians that began to chant, hoop, and holler. They had won! Three days of constant fire and the fortress held true.

Shadow had his arm wrapped around Sprinkles neck, both doing some jig together that was off step. Alex however was not celebrating. Something seemed off. Like their was a disturbance in the void.

"Athena… come in Athena!" Alex tried to get a link with her but it wouldn't work. After a few moments a vid-call popped up to the right of his helmet in a small square. He saw a warlock drop under a barrage of gunfire. An explosion made Athena falter then her helmet was torn off her head by a Captain. The helmet rolled then stopped showing Athena clinching the Fallen behind the neck then bringing its head down and her knee into its face. Brain matter and blood stained her armor like some monstrous van gogh painting gone wrong. She scrambled to the ground just barely avoiding gunfire and grabbed her helmet looking dead at the cam. "A KETCH IS COMING!" Athena warned before another barrage of gunfire forced her to drop the helmet that rolled and showed her fighting towards some sort of encampment on a dull grey field. A barn built in the middle surrounded by fences and Fallen technology. Another explosion finally ended the call and Alex's heart dropped when the air above them began to warp.

"GET DOWN NOW!" Alex yelled in front of Shadow and Sprinkle. Alex spun around and grabbed them both with surprising strength. Alex spear tackled them into a crater. The flying submarine floated in stasis above the air. Its gun turrets swiveled around to look at them. Time just stopped.

Titans threw up their Ward of Dawns which did little to stop the firepower that rained down on them like death. Arc cannons went threw the shields like a knife to butter. The Earth below was turned upside down in seconds. Some Guardians managed to dive into the crater like them but the others were just gone. The air guns now trained on the Ketch fired at the behemoth ship fighting to take it down. Five Skiffs came flying from under the hatch and flew down on to the battlefield ready to storm the fort once again. Two Titans and Shadow forged a dawn together to protect them in the crater to protect them from the blast radius. Smoke covered their position keeping them concealed. When the shield was finally dropped Shadow pulled off his helmet and fell on to his hands and knees vomiting what little food he had in his stomach. A cold sweat drenched his skin and when he looked up at the battlefield above the crater his heart plunged. Titans and hunters blown apart with little chance to run to safety. A single Ghosts light broke through the smoke towards them, its shell stained with blood. The eye of the Ghost changed from its soft blue to a flashing black. When it reached Sprinkle the Ghost dropped into the palms of his hands.

"I could-shes..gone-" the Ghosts final words light died out.

None of them could believe it. They should have known the scavengers would of come back with something else. How could they not of seen this coming!?

Alex tried to drag a hunter to her feet and stumbled to grab his shotgun. "Fight their coming!" A sound like sparks dancing made him spin around too a Archon holding two solar blades. It dove for Alex but he blinked out of the way. A scream ripped through the smoke and Alex turned to look at the hunter skewered through the chest by its sword. It rose her into the air with sheer strength then rose its other blade and decapitated her, head rolling off her shoulders.

Sprinkle roared in anger and drew his fusion rifle off his back quickly. The energy weapon charged up creating a build up of condensed arc-energy that finally shot from the weapon in long streams. The arc peppered the arc shields of the archon priest. It made the Fallen stumble back from the pesky weapon then roar, the warrior jumped at Sprinkle with its weapon raised over its head. Shadow leapt through the air at the same time in a superman punch and punched the Archon straight across the jaw. This did little to deter the warrior and it slashed Shadow across the chest bypassing his shields like butter. Solar energy burned through armor and he yelled in pain.

Sprinkle went to help him when he caught the sight of Fallen advancing the battlefield. Their had to at least be a hundred Fallen. To their luck no more Devil Walkers. Anyone that was still alive in the plasma turrets continued to fire at the skiffs trying to take them down to reduce their numbers. Shadow was saved by Alex who fired at the Archon priest moving as he did to close the space. It swung at his head but the Warlock rolled under the priest and blinked when it quickly spun around to stab him to the ground. The other Guardians tried to fight but noticed the Fallen advancing too.

"Handle this thing will go get the rest!" A blue Titan yelled before leaping out of the crater, machine gun in hand. The other joined him too, ready to defend the fortress with their lives.

Alex threw his shotgun over his back then drew his assault rifle. From behind the priest Ghost was mending Shadows wound as fast as it could. He bobbed out of the way when the blade came down then back jumped shooting to avoid another swing. Sprinkle pulled out his throwing knife and gripped the knife by its blade. Another burst of Alex's gun and the shields stuttered then died. Sprinkle tossed the knife into the side of its neck at the same time. The Fallen screamed a high pitched wail in agony. It thrashed out and caught Alex across his helmet with a mighty blow. Alex faltered for a second, unable to even draw breath in his lungs or see straight, then the blade of the priest tore through his armor. It swung him back and tossed him sending flying against the other side of the crater.

Alex didn't move.

"I'm going to kill you!" Sprinkle yelled drawing another blade. The hunter kicked off the dirt and flipped through the air, he brought his blade down through the skull of the priest with a horrible noise. It jolted for a moment then fell on to its knees and on to its back.

He didn't even try to recover his knife and ran towards Alex who laid face down in blood and mud. Shadow was finally up and ran over to his friends side on his knees.

"Don't move him," yelled Ghost who floated between them to Alex. It shot a beam of light from its eye then chirped.

"It just barely missed his heart. I can help him but-" One of the Titans that jumped from the crater fell back holding a hand to his side.

Sprinkle looked up again and saw that the last Titan was hiding under a dawn trying to stand back up using the barrel of his rifle. Three arc-rounds hit his left leg and it was wrecking his nerves.

The hunter ran to the priest and pulled the blade out with little struggle. "What are you doing!?" Shadow yelled trying to get up himself but failed. The chest wound still burned. "I'll hold them off long enough for Ghost to heal Alex. Then you two make a run for the wall and use the grappling hooks to get up." Sprinkle tore off the helmet from his head and ran his bloodied hands through his black hair.

"NO!" Shadow boomed, "you won't make it. We're the Three Musketeers remember? All for one-"

"And one for all!" Sprinkle finished. The hunters body danced with arc. The clouds above boomed in response. Either from recognition of the Guardian's own power or recognizing him. Suddenly a barrage of thunder struck the Earth turning Fallen into black crisps of ether husks. Today was a good day to die. Not his death, but his enemies.

Sprinkle ignored his friends plees and jumped into the air taking in the sights of Fallen. Maybe two hundred more Fallen showed up to join them. Good he thought, they all gathered for their own funeral.

Through the smoke and heavy rain the Fallen couldn't see the figure of the bladedancer. It was like streaks of blue that darted across the battlefield cutting down Fallen left and right. A Vandal tried to punch the hunter but jolted backwards when he brought his blade up under its chin and through its skull splitting it in two and continued behind it slashing a Dreg into ribbons. Once again he felt so powerful, the arc that coursed through his body made him feel like a god. Hermes would bow his head at the sheer agility. He zipped between a squad of Dreg and spun in an arc storm that evaporated them, a real showstopper.

After five minutes of cutting down Fallen with no mercy his light began to ebb. His agility began to falter and his blade felt like lead in his hands. A Captain took a risk and swung its blades at Sprinkle. The blade barely missed his head when he dodged but it slashed his forearm sending a wave of pain through his body. It dropped from his hand and Sprinkle balled his hands into a fist like Shadow would and punched the Fallen dead in the face. It didn't kill it but it gave Sprinkle enough time to grab his blade and stab the Captain through its head killing it instantly. Pain and anger fueled his light and another wave of arc danced from the earth around him. Fallen began to surround him. Sprinkle slashed his way around the body barricade and slashed down everything. The Fallen just dropped on to the ground dead but rushed the hunter enclosing him like an animal.

Shadow jumped out enveloping his own body in arc light. A crack, not from the lighting but from a Vandals wire rifle. The bullet easily punctured through his shields and buried into his shoulder throwing him off his feet and into the mud. His HUD beeped in warning till his eyes grew to heavy to keep open. Shadows dark eyes closed to the lull of escaping the fight. Behind his head he tried to fight it but the blood loss and exhaustion won him over. Shadow was done.

All was dark. Sprinkle couldn't see anything, he could only feel. Feel the weight of his enemies weighing him down, crushing him under their darkness. His light began to dim, then, flashes or visions hit him. The sun heated the earth, people drove by ignorant to the small things in life. A women laced her arms around his and he smiled behind the dark shades he wore. Another wave of darkness hit him and the vision ended.

Whatever that was it gave him strength. A spark, then a flash, erupted over his body. When he swung his blade it cut down everything in front of him. The Fallen tried to retreat but it was too late. Another showstopper ripped them apart. A captain swung at Sprinkle trying to split him in two, the Hunter pulled his cannon from his thigh and shot the blade making its arm recoil backwards. Sprinkle spun around and threw his leg out into a back kick that struck it's chest. The Captain was thrown off his feet and on to his back. Sprinkle jumped on top if it and slit it throat too quickly for it to react. He ducked under a stream of bolt lighting from the Vandals snipers rifle. Sprinkle dove in front of a Dreg, knocked the shrapnel launcher from its hand with his left arm and used his right arm to shove the blade up into jaw.

Somewhere off in the distance Leon focused his sniper rifle on the Vandal and squeezed the trigger blowing its head open like a tomato.

Alex's eyes opened and the first thing he reached for his stomach where the blade stabbed him. The armor was restored and the wound healed but the ache was still their. Ghost floated in front of him with an almost worried expression. "Where are they?" He asked quickly. When Sprinkle came limping over with Shadow under his arm that was his answer. Shadow had pain written all over his face.

Sprinkle had left his knife in the chest of a Captain that tried to sword fight him. When another battalion of Fallen appeared they suddenly started screeching madly as if in sever pain then ran. The Ketch above the battlefield couldn't take any more damage from the rail guns and tried to hyperjump and retreat. Something exploded from within it and the Ketch began to plummet into the valley wiping out the retreating Fallen.

Twenty minutes later the remaining forces that were sent to the fortress stood in the meeting room. Out of the 300 only fifty were strong enough to move, the rest were either dead or wounded. Shaxx couldn't believe his army of 300 were reduced to such pitiful numbers.

Athena and Morningstar-606 forced themselves in front of the room. Athena had a furious look in her eyes and the blood on her fists said so. Morningstar grey eyes seemed more distant also. Two of his comrades were killed trying to get to the servitor, gunned down on the plain fields. No cover, no protection, just nothing to hide from when Fallen ambushed them. His other two died, eradicated by the blasts from the prime servitor that awaited them in the barn. They barely killed the fallen "God" and didn't leave without their fair share of wounds.

Alex, Sprinkle, Shadow, all stood next to each other ready to await the call back from the Vanguards. The call to tell them to come home.

Draco sat in his cell laughing to himself in his cuffs. the Warlock made a promise to get Shadow back for what he done. The humiliation he suffered from that Titan will not go without vengeance!

Three hours later a LCDF ( last City defence force) showed up with a drop ship. Medical staff, LCDF soldiers, and more Guardians came to pick up the wounded and fortify the Phalanx.

Shadow leaned his head back against the walls of the ship. The silent hum of its engines sort of calming him. "So many dead…" he muttered to himself.

"If it wasn't for Athena and the warlocks we would be dead." Alex replied softly, hoping to not wake the other sleeping Guardians.

Sprinkle waved a Leon and grinned before returning to the conversation. "Something still does not make sense." Shadow arched a brow at his words.

"Oh?" He asked. "You're telling me we fought for three days against ten thousand Fallen for no reason?"

"No. Asshole. The Fallen banded together to destroy the city right?"

Alex chimed in, "the Gap right?"

"Yes. The forces at Twilight Gap were five times as big as this force. We killed the Devils archon and servitor. My question is were they really trying to attack the city, or something else. Was this even the Devils?" Sprinkle crossed his arms over his chest when he finished.

Shadow just shook his head and sighed heavily. "Don't think too much man," he patted the hunter on the shoulder. "Will find out sooner or later whether something is going down. I met a hunter in Alaska that looks for these types of things."

Now Alex was really interested and scooted closer to Shadow.

"Is it a girl?" He asked with a hint of something mischievous in his voice.

"Uhhh yes?"

Alex just leaned his head back and crossed his arms behind his head. "Ima put her in a pretzel just watch," his Texan accent made that ten times worse. Shadow and Sprinkle just laughed at Alex and the three soon quieted down, done with joking and laughing. Three days of death finally subsided with inappropriate joking and the three fell asleep.

* * *

Wow. No joke this was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Originally none of this was going to happen but another lame idea to take a break from the main Destiny story sucked. Athena, Morningstar-606, and Leon are going to be temporary characters and will be a new fireteam the gang will fight alongside with later. Maybe VOG who knows.

I'd like to thank Alex and Sprinkle for helping me edit the story cause without them this would be crap. All three of us are actually debating to make our own team or not, will see what happens in the mean time. Till then thank you for reading Three Musketeers and please, don't be afraid to drop a review. Peace!


	12. Chapter 12

Bar Fight Blues

Another hot day in the city. People milled about their daily lives under the bright sun. Since the team had been gone so long all the food in the fridge had spoiled and rotten, Shadow being a neat freak flipped. After two hours of cleaning their home Sprinkle lost the match of rock-paper-scissors and went out to buy some food. Shadow and Alex fought back the dust and heat as best as they could but alas the fight was for nought.

After they touched down in the hangar bay, medics took all the injured and dead from the ship. Draco was moved to a cell to the lower section of the Tower awaiting trial in two days. Lord Shaxx stormed off, angry, not at the Fallen but himself. The Titan created the crucible just for this reason, to train new Guardians and allow them the experience to avoid their deaths. All the Guardians were given two weeks of leave, a useless medal for defending the city, and new armor commendations. A week later and everything seemed normal. No news except for the usual, all seemed to be normal again.

Loud singing, like a musical could be heard through the hallways of the Guardian complex disturbing those who tried to escape the sun. Sprinkle even heard the singing of a man above the music in his ear. Dressed in an old batman T-shirt and vanilla shorts. Once he got inside the safety of the lobby he took off his signature shades. "_**Lets get down to business**__-" _he heard someone singing throughout the building.

"What the fuck?" Sprinkle muttered. The hunter had grocery bags in each hand and took the elevator up to the tenth floor. The doors opened and the sound was much more louder.

"**-When I asked for sons!"**

Two feet from the door and he was already scared to step in. Sprinkle punched in the digits and stepped in, a blast of sound hit him in the face. Ghost who was levitating right next to him even faltered for a moment. Alex and Shadow were sitting in front of the plasma singing along with whatever was on the screen. A bunch of men practicing fighting with long staffs. Pause.

Ghost floated between them and chirped twice.

"Is this that old-"

"yup" they said in unison. Their eyes didn't divert from the screen.

Sprinkle just shook his head and laughed before heading to the kitchen to put away the food. "What's the movie called?" He asked from the kitchen. Ghost chirped, "I believe its called Mulan. An old animated movie based on Hua Mulan who-"

Shadow and Alex shooed away Ghost before it could finish. The movie was so enamoring. Sprinkle finished and leapt over the couch between the two and sat quietly. Ten minutes into the movie and Sprinkle was hooked. Nothing could prepare him for the amazingness of Mulan. After three hours of watching movies all day they grew bored. Light began to dim outside their window, the Traveller seemed to sleep in the sky as its always done and the gang decided to do something. Shadow had called Athena who was on the moon with Morningstar-606 and Leon. Luckily the three were only on patrol and quickly left.

"Sprinkle did you find a spot?" Shadow asked as he headed to his room.

Alex came out of the bathroom shocking everyone. He was dressed in dark boot cut pants, his pearl snap shirt tucked into his pants, the brown boots he wore only added onto the odd look. Well less odd and more cowboy.

"Howdy partner" his heavy Texan accent only added on to his new persona.

Guess when the only thing you wear is armor for weeks straight wearing regular clothing seemed alien. Neverless a blessing.

"I did," Sprinkle replied, "There's a nice restaurant club in the middle of the city called…" The hunter paused then started to laugh. "Its called Drunken Vandals Bar and Grill."

Shadow now came out of the restroom wearing a casual white button up, he rolled the sleeves up to his elbows and wore black jeans.

Alex tossed Shadow his wrist watch. "Wow, what an intriguing name. Who the hell named a restaurant after our enemies?" He asked, a hint of amusement to his voice. Shadow vaulted over the couch and grabbed his black jacket from the table. When they first went down to the city to buy clothing the three couldn't help but feel as if they were out of their element. The dozens of shops that sold Golden Age clothing was limited. It was odd being around people who wore modern clothing than them. Not that it was any different

Sprinkle heard footsteps outside the door. Whoever it was rapped on the door with their knuckles. Before he could open it Athena walked through passing him without notice.

"You know you're late for your own dinner right?" She pointed at Shadow who seemed to shrink under her gaze.

The Titan looked at his watch and frowned. "Well uhh…" he couldn't figure out any excuse to get out of this one. Athena just chuckled. "Your panties are getting in a twist Shadow, I'm just messing with you."

Alex leaned into Sprinkles ear. "I'd like to twist her panties" he whispered behind his hand. No amount of yelling could stop Sprinkle from him laughing. Or the flying super man punch to the arm Alex received.

* * *

A half an hour later of getting lost later the group finally managed to reach the Drunken Vandal. They were led through dual doors by a robot that wore a black tux. For a bar and grill named after one of the travellers enemies the place didn't look so bad. Large diamond chandelier hung from the roof. A VIP section was built away from the bar hidden behind curtains. To the right a bar was built into the wall giving it almost a cave like look. Bottles of different alcohols, liquor, spirits, and more sat on shelves of clear glass almost touching the roof.

"You think the Vanguard know about this place?" Athena asked as they sat down at a round couch, in the middle a dinner table.

"No… at least I don't think so. I doubt the Speaker would want a restaurant serving Fallen in the city." Shadow replied.

You could almost see her frown.

A minute later a man and morningstar walked in. Morningstar wore a trenchcoat atop of a white tux and black vest. The exo looked like the equivalent of james bond. "Afternoon gentlemen," he then looked at Athena "and ladies." Shadow and Sprinkle shook the exo's hands and introduced themselves. Turns out the man accompanying Morningstar was Leon. This was the first time they properly got a look at him. Trying to memorize ones face with bullets flying around you isn't advised. He stood around 6'8, dirty blond hair and hazelnut eyes. For a hunter he had a bigger build but just move as fast regardless. Now the part was all here.

"So your telling me that you three were the ones who killed Sepkis Prime?" Leon asked amazed.

All three of them nodded, taking in all the attention the hunter gave them.

Leon reached for another beer and sat back in the chair with his legs crossed. "Didn't really think it was you three. Though the recon team that found yer hides did turn it into a bloody movie. Your helmet recorder helped with that mate." Shadow shook his head at the last part, he still needed to find those culprits and get some money.

"Yeah. Big bad Sprinkle here destroyed a skiff with his knife." Shadow boasted over another soda. He didn't like the beers.

Everyone turned their heads at the shade wearing hunter. "Alex is the one that killed Sepkis."

The boasting went back and forth for another good five minutes before Athena started with her own tales. The women stood up suddenly and slammed her foot down on the table. A beer sloshing around in her hand. "N-no" she hiccupped. "I… killed aaaaa C-captain with this..." putting her middle finger up, "...thumb." Morningstar was the only not to get it.

Everything started to get hot around the crowd of people. Morningstar held a bulletin board with Leons, Sprinkles, Athenas, and Alexs name written on it in chalk. People started placing bets on who would win the drinking contest. Athena had already drunk too much alcohol and was already losing. No one betted on her. Leon and Sprinkle were neck and neck, they kept slamming down shot glasses of the bars infamous shots of "Archon fury" which consisted of very very old vodka. Sprinkle grimaced when he downed another shot and coughed. However The other hunter seemed to drink his like water, another shot though and you could see his body start shaking. Some blonde, dressed in a way-to-short skirt draped her arm around Alex's neck, whispering dirty words into his ear. If the Warlock could blush he'd rival the sun. Not from the alcohol of course but the women.

Athena downed another shot after three minutes and shattered the glass against the wall startling a fireteam of Guardians drinking alone. No one noticed them stand up. Someone slammed into Shadow as he left the bar with his cream soda in hand. Ten of these things and he couldn't get enough. The bottle came straight from a freezer and slipped from his fingers. It crashed to the floor exploding in soda and glass right in front of his eyes. A pair of hands picked up Shadow from his knees ignoring his groveling, his pain went unnoticed. "Hey! I'm getting sick of your friends!" A grizzly looking man yelled in his face. Shadows head went limp and he gazed back down at his once ice cold beverage soul rise from the glass and into the air. He reached out for it hoping to get one more touch, it was gone before his fingers could make contact.

Another man walked up beside him. "You little Shite are you deaf?! A wee little daft ain't cha laddy. We got something for that." The man pulled his hand back and punched Shadow in the gut. All the air was knocked from his lungs and the Guardian fell to one knee gripping his stomach. When Shadow looked up at the man he noticed the Titan Codex on his windbreaker. "Y-you're a Titan" Shadow stated as he summoned Ghost in his right hand. Just trying to speak hurt.

"Hello Guardian" he said in a polite manner. "I apologize for this little misundering standing and advise you to refrain from-" Grizzly man grabbed Ghost in his hand and tossed the Ghost across the room. Before it hit the wall Ghost de-materialized into light.

"Traveller be with me! Did that Titan just throw me?" It asked in Shadows head.

"Yes" Shadow growled out loud shocking the man.

More quicker than he expected Shadow came up striking the man under the chin in an uppercut. The man was thrown backwards and was sent crashing on top of a glass table shattering it. Another Titan from the corner of his eye ran at Shadow ready to fight him. He threw two jabs that Shadow easily knocked away. A jab then a hook was thrown at him, Shadow sidestepped to the right but the left hook hit him across the jaw. For a moment he stumbled then felt a pair of hands grab the back of his legs then a body slam into him knocking him down. A perfect spear tackle got him down. The man was on top of him throwing punches but Shadow blocked the blows.

Sprinkle looked up from his losing drinking match and saw Shadow get tackled by someone. Sprinkle jumped up from the table and ran. "Get off him!" He yelled in instinct. Sprinkle leapt into the air. The man looked up right to see a size twelve foot flying at his face and behind that one pissed off drunk Hunter. Snap went the man's nose when Sprinkles foot collided with his face. was thrown backwards onto a table. Now everyone noticed began to help Shadow up.

Sprinkle crashed into the wall as he was getting up. "Wowwww S-shadow is getting his ass kicked by pansy ass Titans!" He shouted for everyone to hear. A little bit of Shadow died inside. "Thanks Sprinkle, piss off the angry Titans is a great tactic!"

From behind them something shattered and Morningstar was staring at a man holding a broken bottle in his hands. The Praxic Warlock grabbed the man by the back of the neck and headbutted him. Flesh met metal and metal won. Now everyone stood silent when the poor guy crashed against a table breaking it under his weight. The ones who sat at the table were not amused. After that the whole place was pumped up.

Bottles flew. People screamed and cursed. You couldn't walk two feet without someone throwing a punch at you. Even Athena, as drunk as she was, couldn't escape the wrath of a female hunter. A bottle flew through the air colliding with the back of Morningstars head and he cursed aloud when five more came flying at him like mortars. No one even noticed Alex sneaking out the exit with a blonde in his arms. Leon tried to continue his drinking streak but a dropkick to the back of the neck ended that.

Shadow and Sprinkle stood back to back on the dance floor. A blitz of people fighting all over and three very pissed off Titans in front of them. The party surrounded them like hyenas. "You think we can take them?" Shadow asked as the two went back to back. Sprinkle put his hands up in a old fighting stance he saw in one of the videos they watch earlier. Sprinkles intoxicated mind didn't care about odds. "Lets get down to business!" The hunter flew into a superman punch and hit one across the cheek, he followed up with a knee that was easily blocked by the bulkier man and was tossed across the floor at Shadow who rolled over his friend and came up skillfully. The mans head snapped back by the uppercut, Shadow kept going at the man with a combo of punches. Shadow finally managed to break through his defence and spun around in a back kick that connected with the man's stomach. Sprinkle jumped from behind him in a side kick hitting the man in the gut. The Titan fell on his knees vomiting all over the floor. Shadow spun around by a charging Titan and braced himself for the tackle. "Guh!" the air was knocked from his lungs as he was slammed around the floor with little to no effort. The Titan tried to beat on him but it did no good, he was slammed to the floor sending star to his eyes. Soda, adrenaline, and anger, pumped his body willing him to fight back as the man choked him. Reaching around for anything that he could use to escape his hands touched a beer bottle and Shadow hit the man utop of the head with it. His eye rolled to the back of his head and he fell back unconscious. As he fell back he saw Sprinkle he saw him trading blows with the last Guardian. Sprinkle blocked a wild haymaker and at the same time hit him with a straight punch to the nose again. The mans head recoiled, Sprinkle closed the distance and dropped kicked the man straight in the chest throwing him to the crowed. His body disappeared from view in the mob.

Suddenly the front door of the Bar and Grill exploded and the Cities Metropolitan Police stepped in dressed fully in riot gear. Leon was already stumbling to the bathroom to hide with Morningstar in tow. Athena stood up for a moment gripping at her aching skull then looked at all the cops. Shadow didn't know how she did it but the women had thrown herself into them yelling, "fuck the police!"

"Good" Shadow thought. Now she was their problem to deal with.

Sprinkle was to drunk to do anything himself and needed help. A hand grabbed his wrist and forced him to run towards the back door exit. Through a barely lit alleyway they ran, the sounds of distant yelling and fighting behind them and the roar of pedestrians ahead. A couple of officers ran out from the alleyway looking for the two but among the crowds of the people the were practically invisible.

Sprinkle put a hand up gesturing to stop. "I can't run no moo," he put his hands on his knees heaving. As drunk as the fool was his words weren't that slurred. Though the next morning he would surely regret ever taking those shots. Ghost didn't even say anything after the fight, he was too busy reading how to nurse a hangover. The streets of the precinct they walked through was practically deserted tonight. They walked atop cobble stones, surrounded by old buildings that seemed more of a relic than a home. A street light in the distance flickered. The two walked side by side down the street just ready to go home.

Shadow sighed as a thought came over him. "You know the Vanguards never disclose anything to the City right? None of these people even know that so many Guardians died for their protection."

The hunter hiccupped then replied. "So. If everything we've done, or battles that we've lost were openly told to the City you think people would be worried. They all would rather believe they are safe behind these walls, under the Traveller, but the truth is no one is safe."

"Then what about our memory?" Shadow asked more irritated.

Sprinkle stopped for a moment. His latest memory of the hot sun, him holding a woman's hand still fresh in his mind. He looked down at his hand trying to picture her hand in his. Shadow only gave him a puzzled look. "You having deja vu or something" he joked, Shadow waved a hand in front of his friends face startling him.

"N-no," he said in shock. "Just thinking too much man. I think all that alcohol is finally getting to my head. Shadow shook his head and pouted. Memory loss was normal when you were brought back to life. Some would regain their memory in a couple of weeks but Shadow had the faintest idea of who he was. Little things that he oddly enjoyed were probably the only thing that gave him a clue as to who he was before his death. Martial arts films, cream soda, and even when he was fighting in the bar those kicks he had done, he never practiced those before. It just came natural.

Another hour of getting lost they finally convinced Ghost to help them. Their little bot kept refusing because he thought they deserved to be lost for the trouble they caused at the B&amp;Q. When they finally got back to the complex their door was ajar. Shadows instincts flared and he kicked the door open, barrel rolled inside the room all ninja like and came up into the room ready to fight. It was empty.

Sprinkle came in behind him then crashed to the floor face first. "Owwwwww" he groaned into the carpet.

Oddly the lights were on. Noises like fighting came from Alex's room and Shadow turned to look at it. He spun in the air at the door and kicked the door off the hinges. What Shadow saw blinded him more than a flash grenade. The Titan tripped back out the room covering his eyes, trying to wipe the sight from his mind. Shadow didn't take Alex serious…. he only thought his friend was joking. That blond women from the club… Shadow never thought a body could move like that.

"W-what the hell," Sprinkle walked into the room. He took one look then turned back around. His eyes looked so soulless the deepest reaches of the moon looked like a sun. The hunter just walked to his room, silently, with no more energy to go on tonight.

Shadow tried to grab Ghost before the bot floated into his room but it was too late. Alex didn't stop even if the little ghost rudely intruded on his session. The blonde didn't mind either. Ghost just fixed the door with some reserved plasteel to mutte some of the noise, floated over to his HUB station to recharge and rest, hopefully clear his memory banks of tonight.

Unlike Ghost Shadow couldn't do the same and curled up on the couch wide eyed. Sleep would not come. How in the human body bend like that? The thought of her body in such a odd position made him shudder.

Alex really did put her in a pretzel.

* * *

AN: Well this took a little bit longer than intended. Being caught between my laptop going bezerk and school everything is crazy. From chapter eight to eleven this was comic relief but now things will be serious… maybe

The Musketeers will meet the mysteries Exo stranger on Venus and find something no one expected. For better or worse things will be awesome. Also I'm thinking of doing a raid for the team. Still debating but if the next DLC is promising it may happen. Shadow out!


	13. Chapter 13

A Strangers Call

"It is not because things are different that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are different." Seneca

FTL jump was always a pass time for Shadow and Alex, they loved relaxing back in the ship, looking at the blue field. Moving faster than light was pretty awesome. Sprinkle on the other hand loathed it. Poor Sprinkle to the far back of the ship held a brown bag to his mouth hurling every time they hit turbulence. Alex turned off the gravity field as a joke and he blew chunks.

Shadow played with his new Vanquisher VIII assault rifle from New Monarchy. Executor Hideo heard of his Titans attacking them at the bar and grill and sent it as an apology. Sprinkle even got two knifes made out of relic iron. Strong, sleek, ideally indestructible. Those babies were pretty sharp and looked amazing, looks are always priority for a hunter after all. After the battle at the Phalanx fortress all their gear was destroyed. Shadow had gotten molniya type armor. Shadow went to banshee about a new look and as much as the gunsmith complained he wanted a challenge. Banshee had added two pauldron platings to the left arms that forced his shields to 121 percent capability. Around his wrist he fitted a omni-cuff that traces any geographic area area, keeps ammo count, and can synchronize battle feed with the tower. His arm arm was a little more plated and an asymmetrical pauldron that connected with the gauntlets. All that and the thunder devil shader was a whopping two grand. Good thing they all had separate wages.

As they came out of FTL the planet swam into view. Venus's surface crackled with lighting, sulfuric acid from the planets surface gave the planet a yellow look. When the Traveler arrived it cleared the planet of its toxic making it safe for humanity to explore the planet. Ruins from ancient civilizations, vegetation and jungle swallowed up old structures built by humanity still stand, but they were a husk of what they once were. Ghost piloted the ship down onto the surface. The ocean beat on the shores of the region. Buildings covered in thick exotic plants hung over cliffs just barely escaping the venusian ocean. This was a five star hotel compared to the moon.

"No...Way" Alex gaped. He touched the ground with his hand and played with the yellow dirt. Shadow was amazed himself. Not at the blue lava that flowed down the cracks of a volcano off in the distance or the destroyed and decaying structure of past civilizations, But the jenga like structure that stood alone. Something in Shadows mind tried to click, like flipping a switch but nothing came. Sprinkle already started off down the path, ready to explore this new world. Ghost levitated next to Alex's shoulders. "Venus was once home to the smartest scientists, Intellectual pioneers and entrepreneurs alike seeked a challenge here. Many Guardians have explored old ruins and destroyed laboratories, but I'm guessing you three could give the cryptarchs a run for their glimmer." Shadow turned to their Ghost and shook his head. "Right now Ghost were looking for the coordinates. We can't even access our sparrows. Besides I can hear your doubt again." Ghost gave him a sort of disapproving look then chirped twice. "Oh you know me so well. Their is a Guardian outpost nearby. Just keep following the path and you'll be there in no time. Just watch out for hostiles."

Sprinkle slid behind a rusted car avoiding shank fire. A Dreg popped out of cover to fire at the same time Shadow went to fire. The Dregs eyes opened wide when a pair of hands grabbed it by the head and slammed its face down onto the car with an audible crunch. The three worked to back each other up, no gaps in their defence and offense made for a pretty solid team. Sprinkle would dart between cover making sure no enemy would to focused on one. Alex would force targets from cover with void grenades and heavy shotgun fire, and Shadow did the titan thing. Shadows shield dropped to critical and he roughly rolled next to Alex behind an ancient building. The Titan tossed a flash grenade and waited for the screams of Fallen to run from out of cover. Shadow drew his hand cannon from under his mark and shot down two shanks in short succession. A knife embedded itself between the eyes of a vandal then lit ablaze torching the Fallen. Another shrill from a Dreg being peppered with buckshot from Alex's shotgun finished the skirmish.

The three stood side by side. Sprinkle squinted down on one knee examining the dead Dreg. "House of Winter Fallen. Different than the Fallen we've fought on Earth and the moon but they die all the same when you shoot em."

"Amen Sparkle." Alex replied shortly.

Shadow ejected his empty clip in his AR and reloaded a fresh one before walking further down the dirt path. The surrounding buildings seemed to tower him, crushing the Titan under its shadows. What looked like roads were now uprooted, cracked, and all but buried under the layer of vegetation that grew over it with time. Rusted cars teetered off the edge of a cliff that was once apart of the road. Even the stumps of large trees couldn't hide their age. "It's so daunting. All these buildings that were filled with humanities finest, now they're all dead." Shadow nodded after his ramblings and headed towards ghost waypoint. The HUD system in his molniya helmet highlighted the Fallen standing around a small structure. Sprinkle knelt next to him with a sniper rifle in hand.

Shadow went to move when Sprinkle cursed. "Hey asshole can you not stand over me?" Sprinkle asked in a sarcastic tone. Shadow put a hand on his hip and shook his head. "First of all, women, I've BEEN standing here. Second, you can't snipe to save your life, and third, you just suck ass."

Alex walked over just as Shadow finished arguing with Sprinkle. "Will you two stop arguing. Damn you argue more than a married couple." Now Sprinkle and Shadow look to Alex who felt uncomfortable. "I'm sorry Alex did you want to run into the open. Possibly get gun downed by the seven Fallen standing guard, anddddd…" he dragged on, "establish a link with the guardian post?"

The Warlock took a moment to think, looked at the Fallen and grinned. "Bet I could beat both of ya'll to them."

Shadow cocked an eyebrow at the challenge. "Bullshit."

"Yes shit." Alex wasn't backing down.

"... I'll give you five hundred glimmer and the last vanilla soda…" Sprinkle said.

Shadow grabbed the hunter by his chest with a wild look in his eye. "I knew you stole that soda! I tore the fridge apart looking for that damn thing. How could you do this to me?" Shadow asked hurt and betrayed. The hunter didn't care and just shrugged his shoulders. "A galactical badass such as myself shouldn't have to share with the likes of low-level Titans." Alex would have stepped up to Shadows defence if it wasn't for the annoyed look Ghost was giving them. "Fine! Will take the deal but…" Alex paused for suspense as he gathered his light then blinked a good ten feet. "That mother-" Shadow was cut off when Sprinkle pushed him aside and threw something at Alex as he reappeared. Something like a rope shot through the air at Alex. At the head of the rope was a sort of hook that wrapped around his ankle and came around till it locked into a sort of cuff. Alex didn't notice and tried to blink again but was stopped mid-way, "oh shit!" Alex yelled as he came smashing down on a rusty car. Alex rolled off the vehicle on his knees holding his aching back. Shadow bursted with laughter along with Sprinkle who couldn't help but enjoy the test run. "I asked Banshee to make this little gadget for me. He calls it a grappling hook. Helps to get to places I can't jump to, just like you saw I can also use it to capture and suppress one's abilities. Alex learned that the hard way.

By now the Fallen had heard the three and turned their attention to them. A dreg fired off a couple of shots at Sprinkle and Shadow who easily dodged the slow gunfire. Shadow was the first one to take off. He slid dodging rounds from a Vandal and rolled into cover next to Alex. "What the hell was that?" Alex asked obviously dazed. Shadow chuckled to himself, "my friend you were hooked." Seconds later the hunter came flipping through the air and landing next to them. "I outta throw your ass out the airlock!" Alex shouted throttling the Hunter till he tapped out. Shadow vaulted over the car ditching his friends. He was about ten feet away when something slammed into his back and he was thrown off his feet. Next to him a ball of purple energy spiraled into a sphere.

Though it didn't hurt, the thing began to pull him towards the grenade. Alex suddenly jumped over the Titan laughing aloud as he did. Shadow tried to dig his hands into the ground but the pull was too strong. The singularity lasted a couple more seconds.

The things Ikora taught Alex were amazing.

Sprinkle had just ran past him when he stumbled to get up. Sprinkle threw out the hook again at Alex but the warlock spun around and blasted it back at Sprinkle. Shadow ducked as the hook missed his head, he heard sprinkle yelling as the hook clamped around his wrist and zapped away is energy till he was writhing on the ground. Alex was just about to make it, that bastard was going to get that cream soda, and the glimmer. For traveller knows what reason Alex tripped on a crack in the ground. It slowed him down long enough for Shadow to run past him. Fallen still fired at the three but it seemed less of a threat compared to their bet. As a vandal came out of cover it met Shadows fist. Three Dreg fired at the Titan and he rolled behind the structure avoiding death. As he came back up to his feet Sprinkle came flipping through the air and side kicked him right in the chest. The Fallen were just as confused as to why guardians were fighting each other. Alex arrived on the scene and saw the remaining Fallen going for his team. He focused light into his hand and tossed the scatter grenade. It landed perfectly in the middle of the Fallen and combusted into little cluster bombs that explodes upon impact. Even if it missed one of the Fallen were torn to shreds from the grenade and started to fill up into a purple mass, bloom.

The radius of the explosion set off a chain reaction of firework like destruction that made Alex grin.

Helmet and helmet met when Sprinkle headbutted Shadow. The Titan was thrown back holding his helmet where his face was. "You cheatin' son of a-" Shadow cursed. Something like a distortion in the air behind Sprinkle. Alex grabbed Sprinkle by the waist and hoisted him over his shoulders, a ten point suplex that made the old WWE videos they watched look like yoga. In the end Alex won the bet.

* * *

It was weird being under the ishtar academy. Debris made it difficult to move, the smell of sulfur was almost unbearable but even worse, the very atmosphere. Their tracker lit up like a christmas tree startling even Ghost who pointed out they were surrounded. In just another moment it stopped and they came out on the other side of a huge room. Book shelves of old books long forgotten rested idly in wait. Alex bumped past broken computer ware that stacked atop of each other far too rusted for any use.

"If that is a glimpse of what the Vex can do we better be careful. Ghost Tell us what these… Machines are again" Shadow ordered as they walked to the middle of the room staring at the thing.

Ghost chirped. "They appear to be made of bronze armor that cannot be traced to identified. Guardians have reported that they fight with no consciousness, their almost indestructible and will fight to their deaths, oh and they can teleport." Ghost added.

All of them tensed, each worried about this enemy they were to fight.

Shadow deployed Ghost to scan the beam of white light. "I have never seen something so complicated as this. It's like a river is flowing across the galaxy, a stream of-" Without warning a orb spawned in the middle of the room. Black smoke blackened the air and all of them dropped behind what cover they could. Ten streaks of light blinked then suddenly they came forth from the black. Ghost highlights Goblins others hobgoblins. No doubt their names derive from the distinctive fin on their heads. The red opticals of the Vex bled hatred. Sprinkle fired his hand cannon into the chest of a Goblin and the machine exploded into bronze and white fluid. Were these things organic?

All three began to fire and fire. A few of the blasts from a Goblin took down shadows shields and he grew agitated. The Titan pulled a flash grenade from his utility belt and tossed it. Alex followed up Shadows attack with a scatter grenade forcing the Vex to stop their endless charge. The light grew stronger in Sprinkle he pulled a golden gun out firing three solar rounds that destroyed the hobgoblins. Two more orbs appeared and the group was forced to scatter. Fighting an enemy of such numbers that didn't know anything but to kill was overwhelming. "Hey I need some help!" Sprinkle dove behind a desk before the grenade went off, it threw pieces of the floors and burned books into his face. As much as he needed it none of his friend could help him. A shot from a hobgoblin hit the desk destroying the computer. He returned fire with his Hand Cannon destroying the annoying thing. Five more vex teleported up the stairs in columns. He gritted his teeth he aggravation and kept firing. Did the stranger lead them to their deaths? Were they an enemy? Whatever these things were they were a legion.

Shadow dodged it's hands at the last second, it's right hand rose up and blasted the side of his armor just scraping him. Shadow spun grabbed it's arm before it could try that attack him again and shoulder charged through the machine then stomped its power core. Across the room he could see Sprinkle being pinned down by Vex goblins. Alex had ran to the back of the room holding down the top floor with a scout rifle. Another hobgoblin missed his head and he leapt behind anything he could use as cover. The light in him began to boil and he let the void build up like a kettle. He peaked out of corner, five goblins and two hobs, perfect. He let the void build till it threatened to consume him then leapt out of cover into the air. Like a lance he thrusted his hand out forcing the power from his body. Three separate void blasts soared from his hand till it hit its mark. The goblins body was eradicated almost instantly. Each Vex caught in the blast bloomed, it set off a chain reaction that tore stone from the statue above the stairs till it crumbled into mere rubble. After the attack the light in him was practically a drop. his breathing became labored and his body sluggish. A Vex with three optical eyes teleported in front of him and grabbed him by the throat. Before Alex could react it back handed him. His helmet was knocked off his head. Sprinkle heard his friend yell from below.

"Shadow I'm pinned. You need to help Alex!" Sprinkle pulled out his fusion rifle as another minotaur teleported into view.

Shadow tossed another pulse grenade hoping to stall the ranks of Vex charging him. Static electricity pulsated from the sphere electrocuting anything that dared try to get past it. Shadow took the time to reload his rifle, "Yeah yeah i'm on it!" he yelled as he ran towards the railing. He looked over to see an unconscious Alex about to be impaled by another minotaur. "No time to think just jump!" He jumped over the railing down towards the Vex. His Hide and seek shotgun materialized into his hands, the machine looked up at the warrior flying towards him. Its optical weapon scanner scanned the scanned the weapon in his hand and tried to move away. It dropped Alex on the floor leaving the lesser threat and aimed its torch hammer at the Titan. Shadow was to close and planted his foot into its face damaging its shields then rammed the barrel of the shotgun into its head. Shadow kept squeezing the trigger repeatedly. White fluids from its head splashed against him armor, it's internal circuits sparked like firecrackers against his armor. The machine was too broken to repair itself and died under his feet. Vex lined up in front of him and the Titan sprung back to his feet and protected him and Alex with a bubble. "I think-" Alex's yelp from when he tried to move his arm pretty much confirmed his broken arm. Suddenly Sprinkle came jumping into the bubble breathing heavily. His hand cannon hanging limply in his left hand, all ammo spent. "There's too many Vex. All I have left is my fusion rifle and a golden gun" Sprinkle pulled out his energy weapon, his exhaustion showed when he tried to reload it and dropped the fuel cell. Alex leaned up against a desk trying to gather some light. Shadow watched as his friend closed his eyes, his friends heavy breathing began to slow down and his body relaxed. For whatever reason the Vex waited for the shield to whether away and the gunfire would tear them apart. "This is no time for napping Alex get up!" Sprinkle went to grab his friends good arm when a purple energy pulsed from his body. Almost knocking him off his feet. Alex's retina changed from brown to a strong purple. Whatever he had done changed him because when Alex moved even his steps left marks of void on the ground. "Alex are yo-" Shadow tried to reach out for Alex but Sprinkle grabbed his wrist. "Don't touch him. I think he's in a state that you get into, like blood rage but for a Warlock. "Not blood rage" Alex said hauntingly. His voice was different, it almost had an echo to it. Shadow and Sprinkle backed up instinctively. "I'm not sure how long this will last," Alex's broken arm made a snapping noise like it had fixed itself. The bubble around them dropped exposing them for a second and time froze. Sprinkle closed his eyes half expecting Vex weapon fire to tear through his armor, but nothing came. When he opened back his eyes he could not believe his sight. Alex held his hand out and a wall that stood six feet long protected them from weapon fire. Not only that the rounds ricocheted back at the Vex. Alex looked back at them, his eyes empty as the void. "I can feel the energy fading. Attack them now." Both of them broke from their stupor and leapt into action. Shadow watched as Sprinkle used his golden to tear through the shields of a minotaur till it's inwards were nothing but fried circuitry that bursted into flames. Shadow ducked under the swing of a charging minotaur. Alex blinked from across the room and shoved his hands through armor and gripped its power core in his hand. He wrenched back his stained hand and the Vex fell dead in front of Shadows feet. No Vex, gunfire, just silence. Alexs eye's rolled to the back of his head and he fell against Shadow.

"Woah woah I got you buddy," Shadow said as he laid his friend down carefully. Sprinkle limped toward them obviously tired. A goblin next to them suddenly moved and the hunter went to stab its core when a voice spoke.

An exo dressed in a black cloak approached them. Unafraid of the weapons being drawn at her. Shadow went to move but his body was to tired. No of them spoke. Her voice was calm and firm.

"I'm guessing you want some answers Guardians," it was more of a statement than a question. "If I had the time they might of been answered-" she turned around whispering into her earpiece agitated at the voice. Ghost floated up next to her, "where is your Ghost exo?" The stranger pushed it away and continued. "I don't not walk in the light nor the dark… this is irrelevant so do not ask me questions that will waste your time." The exo turned around once more, "yes they're here. Give me a moment!"

Sprinkle moved towards the exo curious about the figure. "Do you not fight for the Traveller?" he asked, his eyes were fixated on the odd weapon on her back. The exo turned towards the Vex goblin on the floor, writhing on the floor, to kill was its purpose. "I do not guardian. But I do believe where our paths meet," she placed her foot on its core, "ground will break!" The exo stomped its core in silencing the Vex. "These Vex seek to turn every planet in the solar system into a machine. They cannot be reasoned with because a machine does not feel, so evil they are that it despises other evil."

Now it was Shadows turn to speak. "You called us here. If you would like to get to the point that would be appreciated." In their current state Shadow wanted to return home. The Exo spun on her axis and typed something on to her wrist, a moment later Shadows omni-cuff pinged. "Look for the Awoken in the reef destroy the Black Garden. Only then will your Traveller begin to heal." Ghost floated next to her. "Why can I not feel your light?" He asked. Once again the Exo shoved him aside and Ghost made a aggravated chirping sound. "Because little light I was not forged in the Travellers grace as you are-" before she could continue voices from her earpiece went off. "Yes… yes. How many? Turn off the engine and stay quite-" the Exo pulled her weapon from her back and turned invisible. The stranger was gone. Ghost looked back down at the Vex and made a noise that sounded like a sigh. "Can we just stay here with the death machines. I do not wish to go where the Traveller light does not touch."

Sprinkle slung one arm over and his neck and Shadow the other arm. Shadow grunted from the effort but smirked. "No… little light," Ghost spun around and rammed into Shadows helmet. "Don't call me that."

* * *

Well this took a little longer than planned. My laptop is broken so I'm bumming off the schools for the mean time. Even now I'm typing in my class and ignoring my teachers death glare burrowing into the back of my head. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also please pardon me for any mistakes I might of missed, life is crazy right now and editing is horrible. Thano you.


	14. Chapter 14

Returning to the past

"Damn. Is he going to be okay?"

The doctor shook her head. "Yes Titan but we've never seen anything like this. It's light is fluctuating beyond any point any Warlock has ever reached. We're gonna have him stay here with us till we understand his condition a little more, don't worry."

Shadow didn't want to speak anymore. He left the hospital wing and took the lift down towards the common residence. After Venice Shadow couldn't stop moving. Something about the whole thing unnerved him, got him thinking, he didn't like it.

Sprinkle was a little busted up from the fight too and needed to stay at the hospital for awhile. His right hand was burned badly by a torch hammer. Good thing technology was so advanced stem cell regeneration was just a snap of the finger. His heavy concussion was a different story.

A flash of red out of the corner of his eye made him flinch. Shadow reached out to grab it and realized it was ghost. "Guardian you need to relax" his ghost said in a quiet tone. Shadow let the little light go and sighed. "Apologies I'm just jumpy." Ghost shook it's shell and chirped. "No need to be sorry. Though commander Zavala wants you to report it so return to the Tower when you can." This made Shadow sigh again and rub his eyes. Damn he felt so tired. Shadow tried not to notice the coordinates to the reef on his cuff, he didn't ignore the message that the speaker sent to him though. Why the speaker wanted him was surprising. The last time they had spoken to the Traveller was when they first arrive at the tower.

Shadow was still in his armor and hadn't slept for eighteen hours. Trying to balance his priorities at this point was like trying to juggle a beach ball and wrestle a Fallen Captain at the same time. Sadly Ghost warned him of trying to ignore the Commanders halings.

Zavala had his arms crossed over his chest. It was like two great tree trunks overlapping. "Report," he said bluntly. Shadow stood at parade rest and spoke aloud in the hall. "Fireteam Musketeer sought out the coordinates that both Sprinkles and Alex retrieved during their mission on the moon. We reached the Ishtar academy and were attacked by the war machines called the Vex. We were under heavy fire, almost would of bitten the dust it wasn't for Alex sir." Zavalas ears seemed to perk at the mention of their Warlock friend. "Go on Titan." He said gesturing with his hand for him to relax. Shadow took a deep breath then continued. "Alex was unconscious some time during the fight. All of us were trapped inside my dawn then he just…" Shadow tried to recollect everything that happened. "Suddenly Alex stood up. Spoke as if he had a hundred voices. His broken arm had fixed itself and he created a wall created by void-light. It even reflected weapon fire." The Commander ran a hand over his bald head as if in deep thought. "This is the first instance where we had to deal with a fireteam such as you three. The lack for better words, 'blood rage' is something I've only ever seen you do. Alex's own unconscious state making him practically invincible, and the hunter powerful arc-light is a discovery to us all." Shadow rubbed his face with his tired gloved hands. He still needed to get out his armor. Zavala must have noticed the bags growing under his eyes because the Titan dialed in something on his wrist then a second later Shadows omni-cuff pinged. "Here is some glimmer for you and your team. Good job Shadow. Rest up." Shadow gave Zavala a weak salute then turned on his heels to leave the Titans presence. Now lets see what the Speaker wants, great.

* * *

The alarm went off like a prison siren. Shadow sprang up from his covers and gripped the alarm in his hands. It stood little chance against his strong grip, he crushed the little pesky device. "Damn it," he tossed the broken alarm clock across the living room. His mind raced from the nightmare he had, his body soaked in sweat. It was him, Sprinkle, and Alex back on the moon surrounded by Hive. All of them to tired and broken to keep fighting. A knight grabs Sprinkle by the back of the neck and forces him to his knees. Shadow tries to move but a wizard thrusts her hand through his chest. Alex yells something but he cannot hear, the Thrall tear him apart. Shadow reaches out for Sprinkle but his head is decapitated by the Knight. When the Wizard tore his insides open and fed him to the Thrall was when the alarm went off. It was odd how the apartment was so quiet. It was nine and by this time they would all be watching some stupid movie on their old DVD. Now, it was silent and the visions of his nightmare haunted his mind. Next to him his omni-cuff pinged and he pulled up the message sent by Athena it read:

To: Shadow

From: Athena Rose

Subject: R&amp;R

Message: Hey punk you still awake? I'm guessing you are because if you read the message or not so you better respond. Our team just got back from patrol and I'm in the need of some down time so I'll be at your place in a moment.

Sincerely,

Open the door

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Shadow felt a sense of foreboding.

Something hard hit the door. "I said open up the door Titan before I kick it down!" Athena yelled, she kicked it once more for effect. Shadow quickly hopped out of bed and stumbled to the door, angry at the sudden disturbance. He flung the door open, "what!" He shouted taking her off guard. Athena looked him up and down, her cheeks turned a soft red. "You just gonna stand there or are you gonna-" he finally realized he didn't have a shirt on. After an awkward couple of minutes of trying to find something to wear he finally talked to the women. Athena set some sort of small device on the countertop and what looked like a six pack of cream sodas. How she got those he would have to find out.

Shadow rolled up his sleeves of his long sleeve shirt. "Is this what you do at eleven o'clock at night? Harass people?" He asked half joking half serious.

"You normally answer the door half naked?" Athena joked back with a wink.

Shadow just gave a dry chuckle and took a sip of his soda. "I'm sorry for snapping at the door by the way. Just had a nightmare and was not expecting you to show up this late." Now Athena was looking at him, was it pity or sympathy in her eyes? Shadow couldn't help but notice her hair again, something about her red hair seemed different, he liked it. "Don't worry, we all get nightmares after a while. Just remember that its your mind trying to conquer fears." Shadow almost scowled at that.

"I'm not afraid of anything."

"Oh?" She said softly. Athena stepped up close to him and shoved Shadow. Much to his surprise he managed to catch himself against the side of the counter. "You say you are not scared but your body lies. Would a man who was not afraid to fall catch himself? Or deal with the pain?"

All her philosophical crap was giving him a headache, but she was right. "Tell me oh bright one, if you know so much about me then why do I feel so weak? Why is it that Alex is in a coma right now."

Now this as a question she needed to think, her tone almost went frigid when she spoke again. "I had a husband once you know…" Athena ran her fingers over the scar on her cheek. "I… he didn't want to head back to the tower, he was so persistent in trying to bring something back to the tower for us. Looking back on it Kyler was always such a fool, maybe thats why I married him." Shadow sat leaned against the wall allowing himself to almost shrink away, Athena didn't seem to notice and she continued, as if letting her mind return to the past. "We travelled to a underground subway station used in the golden age. There Was So many. Vex. I wanted to go back! Kyler just looked at me, under his helmet he was smiling and he pointed at his chest. "I can feel it! He said, I can feel!" Athenas eyes began to water. "We fought through so many Vex, the two of us star cross lovers trying to make life better for not only the city, our home, but for ourselves. A minotaur appeared from one of the Vex control gates and pinned us down behind cover. I was already wounded and it was too late to move, Kyler suddenly ran from behind cover. His light was so bright it blinded me. When I was finally able to see all the Vex were dead and my husband."

Athena stopped talking to wipe the tears from her eyes. When Shadow touched her hand to pass her a napkin she flinched. Must of gotten lost in her hurt to much to remember where she was. "Your husbands sounds like a great man," Shadow complimented.

"WAS a great man, my husband is dead now… the only thing fueling me now is knowing that he died fighting for something he believe in, even if we are outnumbered, outgunned, we still keep on fighting tooth and nail for this city, its all we have left."

Shadow looked into her eyes once more, those sad hazelnut eyes he couldn't break eye contact from, then his mind flashed. Him or someone else, standing in the cold holding each other. A woman with red hair whispering into his ear making him laugh. His heart flutters then he pulls her close and into the snow allowing her hair to cover his face. How he loved her beautiful hair. The man says something funny that makes her laugh and he can't help but to smile. "In this life or the next…" the memory began to fade along wit her face. "...It will always be…. you and me."

The memory stopped and Shadows eyes opened up to see Athena kneeling over him. "Shadow are you feeling alright?" Athena asked laying a hand over his forehead to check for a fever. Something inside Shadow jumped and he grabbed her hand from his head. "Why are they so soft?" He asked himself. Shadow let her hand go when she began to turn red again then got up from the floor.

Shadow sat up recalling the sudden flash. "I've never had a memory till now. Did she trigger it?"

"You don't have to tell me Shadow but may I ask what of?" Athena looked up at him, Shadow looked at her lips then back to her eyes.

"something beautiful."

Athena could feel her cheeks warming up. "Why is he looking at me like that?" She asked herself. The women got up from her knees and ran a hand through her hair. She could feel Shadows eyes staring at her, the dark gaze of his brown eyes unsettling her. "Why do you look like her." Athena could hear him say under his breath. Shadow suddenly scowled then got up from the floor. Athena turned around to look at him but the Titan sat on the sofa looking up at the Traveller. The moons light reflected off its white surface. Its light shown through the windows bathing Shadow in its beauty. Athena grabbed another cream soda and slowly stepped towards Shadow.

"I felt something like a trigger. You, must of triggered it. I was with a women and it was so cold yet I was hot inside. I could feel myself happy with this stranger that I have never seen before yet knew her so well." Shadow caught himself before he continued. His heart was still beating from the whole thing and the more he looked at Athena the more he could feel his heart quicken. Something about the way she looked made his heart stuttered. Whether it was the way her black button up squeezed her body, complimenting her ample curves and athletic figure. Or the way some of her hair fell down her face giving her a mysterious look that drove Shadows minds nuts. The man couldn't decide.

Athena risked sitting next to him and she found herself liking the view. "This isn't a bad view. Almost wish I could stay a little longer." Shadow blinked and looked at her. "You could stay as long as you would like Ms. Rose." Now her cheeks were really red and the women was beginning to feel awkward. Something about the way she spoke to him made the women feel again, it scared her. Athena stood up and made a beeline for the door. "Hey where you goin?" Shadow grabbed her wrist and Athena froze.

Athena spun around and shoved Shadow again but he was ready and grabbed her by the wrist. Something about her was so exhilarating. Athena sucked in a breath when he felt hands grab her waist and something press against her lips.

"Oh my Traveller, oh my!" Athena screamed in her head at the touch of Shadows lips against hers. Though the touch wasn't foreign to her it felt so good. Everything feeling in her body felt reawakened, you could say she felt alive again. Not different but good! Shadow looped his hand around her waist and pulled her closer till their bodies touched. One hand ran through her hair sending a flood of ecstasy through her body like a wild fire. A moan escaped her lips and Shadow grinned in satisfaction. Kyler flashed in her mind and Athena pulled back shocked. "I-i'm sorry I can't do this." Athena turned around before he could see the tears and ran. "Athena!" Shadow yelled trying to grab her once more but she was to fast. Shadow went to try again but tripped on the rug. By the time he got up Athen was already down the hall, she was gone.

"Hey what's going on?" Alex asked next to him.

The Titan jumped at his friend's voice, Sprinkle was with him too.

"Nothing we had uhhh. What the hell are you two doing out the hospital?" Shadow prayed they'd just ignore all that.

They went back into the apartment. "Well we very carefully snuck past the hospital guards," Sprinkle remembered putting one in a headlock. "We almost got caught too if it wasn't for Alex here." Shadow sat back down on the couch trying to ignore the smell of Athenas perfume on him. "I was in a mini-coma for almost a day now give me a break. Next time you see a sexy brunette guard lady you come to me when you don't try to holla." Sprinkle face palmed as Shadow was laughing. Leave it to Alex to try and hit up on a women trying to escape a hospital. Alex looked at the for cream sodas on the counter top and arched his brow in curiosity. "Are you feeling better man?" Shadow asked now looking at Alex for any differences. "Yeah why wouldn't I?" He asked himself. Sprinkle stepped out from his room dressed in his sheep pajamas. "You don't remember going all robotic on us back at the academy? You created some sort of forcefield man, you saved our lives." Alex couldn't believe Sprinkles words. "I don't remember anything besides getting my ass kicked by some minotaur. That and something else-" Alex trailed off, a look in his eye made Shadow worried. "Everything was black, I felt as if I was drowning. I could hear sounds like whispering." Alex grabbed water from the fridge trying to remember the word. "this will be the only time I'll admit it but I was scared, not at the fact I was alone but at the darkness itself." Sprinkle and Shadow exchanged looks. "It was as if the darkness was alive. It moved around me like a snake in grass. I have no idea what it was or where I was, but I'll tell you one thing." Alex sat down across his friends on the coffee table. "We need to get to mars."

Late that night Shadow messaged Athena but got no reply. The Titan didn't even know what he had done till she had pushed him away. Kissing her was almost like a long forgotten practice. Shadow touched his lips trying to remember the way she felt against his. "Damn it!" Shadow cursed under his breath, he turned to his side trying to sleep away the memory of their brief intimacy.

Alex watched from his doorway the way Shadow silently cursed at himself and chuckled under his breath. "I knew he had it in him! That fool putter in a pretzel!" With that Alex slipped off silently back into his room.


	15. Chapter 15

We Must Prepare

The warm water pelleted her body like a storm. She allowed the memory of her encounter with Shadow play in her mind like a broken record. "I'll never be able to face him again," Athena whispered. For whatever reason this scared her more than anything. Athena ran a hand softly over her lips, "he really did kiss me." The image of him grabbing her waist and pulling her closer to him made her blush under the shower head. She was so sick of being alone. Kyler dying on mars really affected her life, and Prim and Anna leaving for the vault of glass without a word. Everyone she had ever loved or cared about was gone. Why did Shadow kiss her though? They hardly knew each other, neither of them showed any interest towards each other, just professionals trying to defend the city. Athena turned the water a little hotter scowling at herself. "Get it together Athena Rose. You are a Titan! You can snap the necks of Acolytes without breaking a sweat but you can't talk to a fellow guardian?" Mentally beating herself up was getting her nowhere fast.

"Ghost," she simply said and her little friend appeared.

"I know what you're thinking Guardian and I don't approve. Boys are just trouble!" Her Ghost said hotly.

Athena only rolled her eyes. "Please just message Shadow. We should do drinks or…"

Her Ghost floated closer to the Titan looking her in the eye. "Are you sure about this Guardian? Kyler-" Athena gave it a fierce look. "Don't remind me. Why do you think I'm so scared? It's not because I haven't moved on but the fear of someone actually seeking interest in me again is so…

"Exciting!" Her Ghost finished happily. "I know you loved Kyler but that does not mean you cannot be happy. You know what he would say if he saw you like this, alone, with no one but your Ghost to help guide you. You need this girl." Athena wrapped a towel around her hair as Ghost finished and sighed. "Does it matter? Kyler is dead, and the last I check the dead don't matter." Athenas eyes started to water. The pain of her husband would not be lost on on her heart. Now Shadow was in her mind and he wouldn't leave, the thought of him made her heart beat like a drum. The Traveller would wake up if it could hear her heart beat. I wonder if he is even thinking about me, she pondered in thought.

* * *

The three leaned back into their chairs making sure no one would cheat. Their eyes shifted from one another, a bead of sweat rolled down Sprinkles face. Was he done? Shadow had three, Alex two, and Sprinkle two. This game of advanced physiological warfare was destructive to their friendship, but it was too late to stop. Shadow slammed down a card and Alex cursed, he grabbed four more cards. Sprinkle started to sweat profusely. Just two more to go he thought. Alex looked at all the cards in his hands then grinned. Like a atomic bomb Alex dropped his trump card and Sprinkle fell dead in his seat. He had to grab two more cards. Ghost sighed at their level of over-exaggeration. Before anyone could say anything Shadow grabbed the coffee table and flipped it over knocking all the cards into the air and startling his two friends.

"UNO BITCH!" Shadow yelled throwing his card on to the floor and raising his arms in victory. That was the conclusion to their two hour UNO card game. Finally after a long awaited victory Shadow felt like a new man, a better man.

In a couple of hours the group had returned to the tower after making sure everything in their home was clean. The group was planning on not being back anytime soon. Shadow wanted to contact Athena but it seems she was already gone on a mission. The team returned to the tower to prep for the reef.

"Wait, guardians. The Speaker is wanting to speak with Alex and Sprinkle right now, it's urgent."

All of them groaned loudly like children.

Shadow didn't like this. "Well gentlemen change of plan. Looks like I have a date with the Queen."

"You do know that the Speaker only ever wants to speak with us because he thinks you're gonna punch everything right? I guess he admires smart intellectuals over a dull brained rock 'em sock' em brute." Shadow just deflated at Alex's hurtful words. Sprinkle just rubbed the salt in when he low fived him about it.

"And that's why I won the game of UNO huh? So go enjoy your talk with the Speaker." Alex and Sprinkle just mean mugged Shadow all the way to the Speaker. The anger they held for that game of UNO will never be forgotten.

* * *

Shadow crossed his arms, growing more agitated by the vanguard with every breath. "The information from the Exo is legit. We need the help of the Awoken to find the Black Garden."

Cayde-6 barked again with fake laughter. "You think the Awoken is gonna want to help us? They won't even allow Earthborn Awoken to return to the reef. More pressing matters need to be attended. Like the sudden increase of Hive here in the Cosmodrome. I'm getting reports-"

Shadow slammed his fist down on the table cutting him off. "If this Black Garden is what's killing the Traveller then we need to strike now! We need to find it, kill it, and push back the darkness."

Ikora nodded her head as if in deep thought. "You are right, Titan. Even more so, we have gained more information. A fireteam has managed to collect information from an old Hive library deep within the hellmouth. I think it's time we begin to investigate."

Cayde tore his angry gaze from Shadow to Ikora. "What are you getting at? Are you saying we should try again?" He asked. Her nod was his answer. Shadow was too confused to try and speak again so he chose silence instead. Commander Zavala finally broke his silence hoping to avoid any further altercations. "Go Titan, we need to find this garden and kill it. The Traveller is our last hope for fighting against the Darkness. I would tell your team to go with you but the Speaker has them on another mission." Shadow tilted his head at the news. "No one told me this? What does the speaker have them doing?" Commander Zavala shook his head. "Whatever the Speaker has planned for them is his own business unless he discusses them with us. You are dismissed." Shadow's annoyance grew ten times more. The way Cayde kept looking at him made him feel enraged. Before anyone else could say anything he nodded and left the halls. Now outside Shadow looked to the towards the east wing. Caught between wanting to find his friends and completing this mission he really didn't know what to do. Either way he had his orders and they had whatever orders the Speaker gave to them. How much trouble could this be really? All he had to do was ask for help nothing more and nothing less.

* * *

The Reef. Home to the Awoken. that had attempted to flee from the might of the Darkness. This almost desolate asteroid belt was a graveyard of ships. Now Shadow was trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack, a very BIG haystack.

"Oh hey look its another ship…. another one…. and oh look-"

Ghost scoffed at Shadows dry sarcasm. "Guardian your complaining isn't helping us one bit."

Now it was Shadows turn to scoff. "Yeah well if I wasn't pinned up in this stuffy ass ship we wouldn't have this problem. How the hell did Alex and Sprinkle leave the tower so fast?"

"Well the CTV cameras around the tower show that they did in fact leave five minutes before us and took the Kestrel." Shadow sighed as Ghost piloted the ship to avoid the web of derelict ships. "Where did all these ships come from?" Shadow asked his Ghost. "Some tried to escape the darkness during the collapse. They reached the edge of and something changed them."

Ghost made a chirping noise then suddenly the coms of the ship were going off. Two red dots on the scanner made him confirmed what he already knew. Shadow looked out the canopy spying at two odd looking ships flying on either side of his flank boxing him in. "I can see why they only now showed up on radar. They were hiding in the wreckage, Ghost explained.

"Intruder bearing one-two-seven, you have crossed into the realm of the Awoken. State your business, or be fired upon on order of the Queen."

Shadow looked to Ghost for an answer. "Don't look at me Guardian! You're the Titan."

Ghost response wasn't the one he was looking for. Shadow made a sound as if clearing his throat. "Hello oh Awoken ones we are here come from Earth. We're are here to seek counsel with the queen of this beautiful desolate Void. Their was a long pause. "Confirm on my trajectory. Any deviation will be seen as an act of aggression." There was a click then the radio went silent. One of the ships bled its speed to fly behind them and the other in front forcing Shadow to follow patiently. His ship was set on the same trajectory as the royal guard pilot so he set the ship to autopilot and sat back in his chair. For a second Shadow closed his eyes to let his mind wonder.

Things seemed to be on lockdown due to the arrival of these new visitors. Banners of purple and gold hung down from almost every hall from the dock to the ships. Shadow was led through deep corridors guarded by Awoken dressed in black tight armored clad suits and visor like helmets. As much as it put him on edge Shadow kept a level head. A look of determination on his face, head straight as if none of these Awoken warriors existed. Two guards behind him led to down a long narrow walkway. The purplish hue from the reefs space lit the room. Orange light sticks on either side of the walkway led up to the end of the walk just a few feet from a lone platform, and atop of it a lone thrown decorated with Fallen skulls and banners. A man with raven black hair and piercing orange irises. Something about this man made him cringe, a feeling of annoyance and anger quickly filling his gut.

"So… these are the trespassers demanding an audience."

Shadow gripped his hands into a fist. Ghost floated from behind him quickly before he could speak. "We apologize. Our intentions were not to cause in trouble with the Awoken people or its queen. Speaking to the Queen is of the utmost importance."

The Awoken man stood unchanged, both hands gripping his belt, a little bit too cocky. He spoke as he moved. "The Queen herself judges who may and may not enter the realm. I see no reason why she should see you… Specks of light such as yourselves would only be wasting our time… her time." He stopped in front of them. Shadow felt his power crackling in his hand but he knew any irrational actions would end up with him dead. The Titan just ignored it as best as he could.

"We've come to ask for help sir." Shadow spoke shortly and calmly. A glaring contest between the two was held for a moment before Shadow felt Ghost brief movement. "Fallen!" He yelled distressed as two Vandals appeared from behind the throne. Shadow quickly turned around and shoved the Awoken guard whilst drawing her sidearm from its holster. He spun back around but the Awoken man reflexes were too quick and a knife was to his throat and his shooting hand caught in a vice grip. "Tsk tsk tsk," he did with his mouth. I could feel my eyes pierce into the back of his skull like daggers as he pushed the blade closer to my throat.

A soft voice from the throne interrupted the confrontation. "It is afraid of what it does not understand. These Fallen are mine Guardian they belong to me."

The gun was snatched from his hands and the knife to his throat removed. Shadow yanked his arm back with a growl and turned his attention to this women: The Queen of the Awoken.

"Apologies… your grace." The man said stepping back.

Shadow bowed his head in respect and apology then continued. "I am a Guardian from Earth. We are searching for the black garden. We seek to destroy it at its heart."

The man argued with him about the subject a little more. "Are you dense Guardian? Everyone knows where the Black Garden is. It's a matter of getting in."

"Can you help us?" Shadow asked losing the calmness in his voice. The brother almost asked for it when he stepped closer invading Shadows personal space. "What makes you think we should help you?" He asked.

The Queen who sat crossed legged on her throne tiled her head slightly. "The Queen requests counsel with her brother." She said with a sense of calm so noticeable she sounded bored. Like a little dog her brother moved to her side but not without giving Shadow a look of silent irritation. After a few moments the Queen's brother spoke again. "You will find the head of a Vex gate lord. Come back with its head, and we will gift you with a key for this tasteless journey. Go and leave! Get the head before we changed our mind." Shadow turned around and began to continue down the catwalk with both guards more alert than before. "We will return."

Crow chuckled under his breath. "Or you will die. Either way."

Shadow snickered and muttered under his breath. "Don't start picking daises assshole."

Alex couldn't help but notice her. The women dressed in all black head to toe. To anyone else it might of just been a random women in the tower but the aura she gave off... an aura of sadness, anger and hate all spilling from her body. It was as if the light in her body was but empty cup surrounded by nothing. Another figure stepped out from behind a pillar… Ikora Rey? The two spoke in hushed voices then began to walk through the darkness of an alley. "Hey bud you doin alright?" Sprinkle asked stepping out of the convenient store. Alex quickly snapped out of his trance. "Yeah it's nothing bubba lets go home, Alex said with a smile. The two had just gotten home from the mission the Speaker sent them on. Just a normal patrol in the cosmodrome. Nothing out of the order except for the black ash of some sort of Hive ritual in a cave they discovered. The Hive must of been trying to summon something. The way the Speaker was going about they wouldn't have been shocked if that was what he meant about "growing darkness."

Shadow was back at home leaning against the countertop buying ammunition with his PDA. He reached for the glass of water next to him and took a long sip when it pinged. A message Icon in the upper left corner of the screen. It was a message from Athena. The Guardian wanted to go out for drinks tomorrow. Shadow rubbed at his face in agitation. They haven't been able to talk since last night and even then she ran out the apartment. More than anything he felt ashamed for kissing her without her consent. Did he overstep his boundaries with that kiss?

"We're leaving tonight for Venus." Shadow stated to his two friends. Alex was cooking food while Sprinkle was sharpening his knife. The Warlock turned around from his cooking with a grin. "So was the Queen hot?" Alex asked now crossing his arms over his chest. Sprinkle stopped sharpening his knife and now turned his attention to Shadow as well. This made him roll his eyes. "Who would like to know?" Shadow asked already knowing the answer. "Myyyyyy good friend I only ask because we are living in troubled times. I believe that if we are to survive we will need not only more Guardians but the Awoken as well, and you know me I can be very persuasive, don't even have to use words bubba." Alex did a little pelvic thrust on the counter shaking it only add to his point. "Are you trying to tell me you would shag the Queen of the Awoken?" Alex put a hand to his heart feining hurt. "Shadow I'm hurt. You make the assumption that I would defile a noble queen with my rugged good looks and all Warlock badassery." Sprinkle just lost it and walked to his room to change. "Yeah well I'm pretty sure the actions you would love to take with her are a tad bit… Uhhhh," Shadow really couldn't find the word to describe his friend.

"Yeah well her brother, Crow, would see you hanged by your little piece than have you defiling his sister." Alex stopped joking about the Queen and finished cooking the food. A combination of burnt vegetables and spam. No one ate. Sprinkle came back out of his room and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. "I've gotten some information from Cayde-6. Campus 9 was a old research lab studying, Vex, the old ruins, and some sort of creature called Ahamkara. Before we try to fight the Gate lord why don't we get some information about the bloody thing first." Both Shadow and Alex nodded in agreement. They would rather not fight a blind fight, not against such a complicated organized group of killing robots. Two hours after the little brief they stood in the hangar bay waiting for their ship, the reason it took so long cause the pre-flight inspection.

Alex saw her again. The women in all black. this time she was heading towards the lower decks of the hangar. "I-ill be right back…" Alex said unsure of what he was to find. Sprinkle and Shadow just let him be and continued their little game of rock-paper-scissors because neither wanted to pilot the ship. Ghost waited for one of them to win before reminding them they can set the controls on autopilot.

Alex crept down the steps taking care not to be discovered. The lower deck was more of a old ship that Guardians used to get together, drink, and talk about their adventures and so forth. Now, it was quite, no one in sight. When he thought the women had snuck past him a figure stepped out from the dark pointing at something in front of her. "Titan, do not mistake my words of warning Guardian. No these are the words of a broken warrior torn from what she held most dear in life." The way she spoke, Alex could feel it in his heart, she was in pain. A Titan with red hair and green eyes stepped out further closing the distance between them. It was Athena!

Alex crouched behind a work bench to avoid detection.

"You're trying to tell me that this Crota, son of Oryx, is going to invade Earth. You tell me Hive forces are preparing to destroy our home with the help of this Hive king. How do you expect me to believe you?"

Now the women in black took a moment to think, hands trembling not from sadness, but the poison of her hate. As she spoke she undid the torn scarf wrapped around her head and face.

"These are not words of madness Guardian. Six of us sought out to kill this Hive God… I am the last" She finished unwrapping and tore the scarf from her head in a quick motion. Athena stepped back with a hand to her mouth, shocked. Alex stood up not believing what he was looking at. This women had three green eyes.

"My name is Eris Morn. We must fight back Crota for he will turn his eyes to Earth and only a true weapon of light will stop his wrath. You must fight what lurks in the dark below."

* * *

A/N:

Hey everyone sorry for not typing. Seeing how is I just graduated high school and now a fully fledged adult, typing is going to be a lot more difficult. I will be trying to type and publish more chapters as fast as possible but life has its way of saying 'nah'

On that note I hope you enjoyed this little comeback chapter and their is certaintly more to come. Peace!


	16. Chapter 16

Exclusion Zone

The look on Crows face when the head of the Vex Gate Lord dropped in front of him was priceless. Nothing in the entire universe had ever been so satisfying as seeing his jaw drop upon the completion of this crazy task. Though the bitter Awoken was reluctant to come through on his side of the deal, the Queen figured she would have more use for the Guardian in the future, a dept and promise that he would fulfill her every wish.

"Alright gentlemen I have the coordinates." Shadow said as he walked into the cockpit. Sprinkle was already entering in the coordinates then jerked his head at Alex confusing Shadow. Alex had been quiet ever since they left the Tower. This is the guy that would dare to sneak into the Reef to have sex with the Queen so when he was silent it was either someone was dead or something was wrong. Shadow also noticed too but didn't think much of it. He patted Alex on the shoulder as he sat down in a seat beside him. The ship's engines began to whirr up for FTL.

"Hey man, you doing alright? Ever since we left Venus you've been acting strange. You got a women on your mind?" Shadow asked half joking half serious.

Alex only shook his head. "No no it's not that… Shadow we've known each other through thick and thin man, we saved each others lives more than we can count on one hand. Can I tell you something without you getting angry?"

Shadow was taken aback by the question. "Yeah buddy what's going on? You catch something?"

"Now that wouldn't be a shocker." Sprinkle chimed in. Shadow gave him a disapproving look but he was stifling a laugh. Alex finally took a long breath and sighed. "_**I Better just get this out of the way**_," he thought.

"Shadow I saw Athena with someone else…"

Nothing on the Titans face changed. With the grace of a hunter he grabbed Alex by his shoulders wide eyed. "What the fuck are you talking about?!" He shouted a little bit too loud. Being in such a small cockpit and tight space amplified their voices like megaphones. Alex cringed and put his hands up in defence to dismiss whatever thoughts he had. "No its not like that cool down. Let me explain from the beginning. A women back in the Tower had caught my eye- and before you say anything just listen." Shadow sat back down. Sprinkle spun around in his chair with one hand on his knee and the other under his chin. "This woman was dressed in all black, her face covered by some sort of cloak or scarf. I didn't recognize her. Something about her told me she wasn't our normal everyday fellow. The aura she gave off made me feel as if… forget it. I followed her under the hangar bay to the Den. Her and Athena were talking about some sort of Hive lord name Crota. She said her name was Eris Morn.

Shadow felt as if his stomach did a triple somersault and didn't stick it.

"Crota, son of Oryx. This 'thing' took the moon from us, killed so many Guardians." Sprinkle just explaining it made him shudder. "We destroyed his sword when we killed the swarm prince's and even destroyed some sort of shrine. The question still remains. What does this Eris Morn want with Athena?" Sprinkle finished talking.

Alex only shrugged his shoulders. "She said something about the dark below. I think she wants Athena to find and kill Crota."

Now his heart did a 360° "This woman expects her to fight what the Hive believe is a god? This thing killed hundreds of Guardians on the Moon which, if you forgot, took over and turned into their own kingdom. We've been down into the pits of the hellmouth long enough to know that the Hive possess more power than we realize. Athena is strong but she cannot do it herself."

"You know her best tough guy. Persuade her to leave the task to us" Sprinkle suggested.

Alex already waved his hand in disapproval. "We can't. We have to destroy the Black Garden. Shadow you need to trust her with this. We know you care for her but she is not weak, and besides Morningstar and Leon will be with her."

Shadow just looked out the window. the blue lights of FTL jump always put him at ease, not this time. He almost wished this ship could take him far away from this madness. Alex was right though. They had their own mission as did she. The Titan let his mind drift along with the conversation. He silently prayed she would come through.

* * *

The ship breaks through orbit and pilots down towards Meridian Bay. Red dunes rival the once great skyscrapers here. This was where humanity first made contact with the Traveller. The doors to a whole new universe had opened to them. Mars was the planet to go to for thinkers, masterminds of great things and all. Now sand buried skyscrapers.

The ship dips over a few more dunes before it comes to a complete stop. It spins around for a moment opens up its hatch and the three jump out. The ship flies away. Buildings in the distance look as if sand and time had not been kind. Though their armors had coolant systems they could still feel the heat from this red planet. Guess when you're 154 million miles away from the Sun on a desert planet things would be hot.

"Oh this is great. If we're going to have any chance of finding the Black Garden I suggest we find a Cabal orbital communications. In fact if you want anything we're going to need to find one otherwise you three are walking there."

Shadow looked at Ghost over his shoulder and cocked his head. "Are you sure the Traveller made you in his light? You're kind of an asshole Ghost."

WHAM! Shadows head was thrown back from the impact of Ghosts shell against his helmet. Alex grabbed the Titan screaming "lemme at em!" before he could drop kick their little friend. "Let it go man its not worth it. We need to get to a bunker." Alex said.

Sprinkle was already walking with Ghost over his shoulder. "What can you tell us about these Cabal?" He asked. Ghost took two seconds to gather all the information from other guardian reports. "Eight hundred pounds and highly militarized. They blow up planets and moons just for getting in their way… just so you know what you're dealing with."

"Oh thats just great!" Alex yelled with a wave of his arms. "Is there anything else on these things we need to know about?" He asked.

Ghost just 'stared' at Alex and nodded. "Another report tells me that they look almost like a turtle. A space turtle."

Shadow and Alex both stopped in their tracks and put a hand to their chin. Both thinking of what a space turtle could possibly look like. All they got was a little amphibian in a little space suit floating around very very slowly. Kind of a cute thought actually.

The team crossed dunes to reach the Cabal outpost. It took ten minutes to reach the only hackable entrance. Ghost quickly got to work. "They're inside. I suggest we remain under the radar until we understand them better." The doors opened and the group stepped in weapons raised. It was empty inside. Nothing on the radar, the coast was clear so far. They walked up a flight of stairs leading to a open room. "Scanning for something linked to their orbital grids." Alex pointed at a lit up decked out super computer. "Is that what you're looking for?"

Ghost floated towards the terminal station. Shadow held his Vanquisher VIII in his hand firmly. Something about this place made him want to leave. Ghost began to mutter to himself. "Access key? I don't need an access key… DOS is more complicated."

Ghost suddenly stiffened up. "...oh…I uh…" alarms began to blair madly. "I think I might of activated a fail safe."

Everyone scattered and took positions behind cover. Sprinkle pulled a sniper rifle from his back, he was positioned behind behind a wall of heavy crates. Alex peered around the corner of the barricade next to Shadow. As the door opened a huge ship called a Harvester dropped from above the outpost. It began to fire wildly into the room trying to kill whatever moved. "I think that was their failsafe," Ghost said as if he didn't grasp the situation fully. Shadow popped out of cover firing into the ranks of shield wielding Cabal. "You think!?" He yelled over the gunfire and alarms.

"Those Phalanxes! Shoot their hands it will give you an opening!" Alex shouted after a kill. Sprinkle did just that and squeezed the trigger of his sniper rifle at the hand of a Phalanx. The 69.9 caliber round tore through the thick armor of the Cabal making him step back in pain exposing his head. A quick readjustment of his scope and with another shot the Cabals head which exploded from the de-pressurization. Shadow tossed a flash grenade Killing one legionnaire and blinding two others. Alex fired at their firing arm creating an opening. shadow riddle one with bullets and the other quickly died from a scatter grenade Alex tossed. When it died the void filled its insides till it exploded killing another soldier. "Push up!" Shadow yelled being the first one to vault over his cover and advance. The harvester had already disappeared and Shadow wasn't going to let them be overrun by the Cabal infantry. A legionnaire jet packed over a dune trying to take the Titan from the air but Sprinkle quickly scooped the Cabal and killed it. Shadow ran at the Phalanx and jumped into the air spraying bullets at the Cabal. Shadow still flying slammed his arc charged knee into its face cracking the helmet and cracking it's head like an egg.

Another scatter grenade from Alex damaged four cabal infantry. Sprinkle slid next to Alex with a heavy machine gun in hand. The MG18A Harm's Way was the answer to "how do I fuck up a ton of hostiles in a short amount of time?" The weapons heavy fire tore through the armor of the Cabal killing them quickly. A centurion jump down next to Alex and roared loudly at its enemy. The Cabal swung at him and he parried its fist with a Palm blast. The Cabal spun around into Alex's hand, he grabbed the Centurion by its face and scorched it. The solar damage of his attack ignited the Cabal into nothing but Ash. Just as another Legionnaire flanked Alex a knife flew from the air and imbedded itself into the back of its neck before exploding into flames burning the insides of the Cabal. "Come on Shadow needs help!" Sprinkle yelled before blinking over a dune behind cover. A second Harvester appeared dropping off reinforcements that pinned Shadow down inside a small bunker.

Shadow was inside hiding behind some sort of holographic station. Two Phalanxes blocked off the only way out. Legionaries behind them fired into the room pinning him down. Shadow blind fired over his cover but the shields were impenetrable. Something that sounded like the ripping of metal could be heard outside. The wall of Phalanxes began to yell in their language before blue streaks of light cut them down to nothing. even without his HUD highlighting Sprinkle he knew it was him. Outside the slit hole he could see Alex leaping into the air covered in purple. The Cabal tried to run away but it was too late. Six Cabal were reduced to nothing by the scattered Nova Bomb he unleashed upon them. The fight was over.

Shadow walked out of the bunker reloading his AR. His HUD informed him a connection has been established and their Sparrow links were online. "Ghost as much as I love you I think your going to be in charge of just opening doors from now on," Shadow joked. Ghost on the other hand didn't think it was funny and tried to ram him again but Shadow just weaved out of the way. On their Sparrows they sped off into the scablands. A couple of Cabal outposts were established here. Cabal and Vex fought each other for territory and to push the either side out but neither of them were making any headway. It was easy to ignore the fighting and to continue ahead towards the gate.

"The Cabal took over Phobos as well as mars. If you say is true Ghost, that they can blow up moons and planets, why don't they just blow up Earth?" Alex asked using his Comm. Shadow steered his Sparrow around a dune then signalled them to stop behind a huge boulder.

"If I had to guess they're looking for something. I mean if the Cabal were really invading they would have sent a hell of a lot more of their fleet to the rest of the planets in the system." Shadow guessed.

"Well look at the big brains on this guy." Sprinkle remarked. Shadow just ignored his friend and aimed down the sights of his assault rifle. A company of Cabal stood guard near the outpost. Smaller soldiers they hadn't seen yet wielded slug rifles stood guard too.

"I'm thinking we get in stealthy an-"

"Wreck everything, walk away?" Shadow interrupted with his question.

Sprinkle shook his head and tried to continue. "I'll plant a bomb to the access post an-"

"Why not just wreck everything, and walk away?" Alex now asked. Shadow nodded with his arms crossed over his chest.

Now the hunter face palmed and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Like I was saying we can use a bomb to destroy the post after we gather all the data and-"

"WRECK EVERYTHING AND WALK AWAYYY!" Shadow screamed like a banshee. He pulled a heavy machine gun from out of no where screaming madly as if possessed. The Cabal fired at him but the bullets seemed to miss it's target. Alex ran beside him firing his own machine gun. Sprinkle behind was too confused to comments about the situation that quickly escalated way too quickly. The Cabal ranks began to increase. The three fought their way up to the access port.

Shadow let loose Ghost. "You need to find out who's in charge and take their key!"

A harvester landed into the middle of the zone forcing the Guardians into cover. Sprinkle grabbed Alex behind a wall before a stray rocket from the Harvesters turret tore him apart. Shadow hid behind a rock inching away to avoid the Harvester cannon. "Shit shit shit" Shadow screamed as combined rounds from the Cabal infantry and Harvester fired at him relentlessly. Shadow checked himself for bullet holes once he dove next to Alex.

"Do you remember the first time we went the moon?!" Alex yelled gathering void in his body.

Shadow gave him a look of panic. "Hell no don't touch me."

Sprinkle pulled out his rocket launcher, he fired a shot killing a couple psions. The Hunter spun around just in time to pull his knife from its sheath and tossed it into the chest of a Psion. Alex grabbed Shadow's arm with a nervous grin. Shadow tried to break free. "No you son of a-" purple replaced his vision for a second then the red sky of mars was.

"Get it now!" Alex yelled next to him screaming. The warlock blinked away before gravity took ahold of him. The sound of rushing air took over his helmets external speakers. His body began to plummet making him feel as if his insides were in his throat. Sprinkle blade danced his way through Cabal hoping to push them back but the Harvested made it hard. Shadow focused Arc throughout his body turning him into a light-up wrecking ball of awesome. "Death from above assholes!" He screamed as his body rocketed right on top of the Harvester. The drop ships plating exploded covering him in black oil like substance. Shadow kept beating the ship with his arc charged fists frying circuitry. It made a sort of shrieking noise then banked left slamming into the canyon. the Cabal reinforcements came from. Shadow focused the rest of his energy into one double fisted blow. The ship lost all of its power and dove towards the earth. Shadow jumped from the ship and landed on his back. The ship soared over his head till it crashed into the ground exploding into flames. Alex and Sprinkle were at his side helping him up.

"Yeah I think the whole Titan cannon ball thing might our signature technique." Sprinkle could only shake his friend at Alex.

Shadow only walked away wobbily before falling face first into the ground. "Or not," Sprinkle chuckled before helping their friend back on to his feet. The team had the access key they were looking for. Ghost updated their Nav points through the valley of the kings. They jumped a sand dune through the canyon. "The outpost is just over this hill" Ghost informed them is he once again updated their HUD. A siren sounded off and Cabal phalanxes and legionnaires marched from bunkers. Sprinkle somersaulted to avoid fire and came up on his feet with his hand cannon drawn. With the weapon at his hip he fired three shots from his hip dropping three Phalanxes in quick succession. "Alex watch the left flank!" Shadow roared as another squad appeared above them. The team was quickly forced into cover breaking the tempo they were used to. Shadow peeked over the barricade eyeing another squad of Legionaries led by a Centurion.

"We need to break their ranks otherwise they'll overwhelm us. Alex blink me up to the outpost." Sprinkle nodded at Shadows order and pulled a mine from behind his belt. He tossed the grenade at a narrow opening between a control panel and a barricade blocking the Centurion from advancing. It attempted to jump the mine. Sprinkle quickly drew his sniper rifle and with two shots penetrated the shields of the Cabal and killing it. From above Shadow met a phalanx head on. Both warriors yelled in a booming war cry. Just as the Phalanx swung its heavy shield Shadow rolled under it, threw a flash grenade at the advancing line then drew his secret hand cannon from beneath his mark. Looking over His right shoulder he fired two shots into the back of the soldiers knee as he was turning then grabbed it by its big head before it fell to its knees. Shadow wrenched its neck as hard as his armors physical capabilities would allow him. The Cabal made a sort of disgruntled gurgle before it's neck snapped then went limp in his hands. The rest of the Cabal were taken out by the flash grenade or Alex's pulse rifle. From atop the two worked to take down the rest of the Cabal and drove them back to the bunker.

Sprinkle ran up the wall and reached out allowing Shadow and Alex to catch his wrist and pull him up the cliff. Ghost appeared from behind them as they reached the information hub it needed to access. From the room the entire gate could he seen. A sort of portal to the garden seething with dark energy guarded by Vex. "Ghost what have we got?" Sprinkle asked leaning against the wall. It's blue lights scanned the hub taking all the Cabal data.

"The Cabal have managed to get through most of the Vex cognition mesh."

Suddenly the electricity in the air rises and the portal begins to crackle with energy. It's does this for a few seconds before the portals field collapses with a roaring clap.

Alex could almost feel the darkness from the gate weigh him down like chains. "I got what I could and that's alot. If were going to do this we need to get through the Cabal first no doubt about that.

"Good I think we need a bit of a challenge." Shadow chimed in with a grin. Sprinkle rolled his eyes, "yeah well if what Alex told us about Athena and her new friend we're going to need to work faster." Shadow let out a sigh. If Athena was hunting the son of Oryx she was going to need their help.

"Let's inform the Vanguard of what we found," Shadow stepped from the room, "we need to report in."

"Will figure this out Shadow don't worry." He only gave Alex a thumbs up but he wasn't fooling anyone. All of them knew a storm was coming, and they would be in the middle of it, fighting to protect the tower.


	17. Chapter 17

Whichever way the wild winds blow

Author's note: Sorry for taking so long on these chapters. Been busy trying to find something else to do besides sit in my place and sleep all day, plus been having major block. This chapter is a little short but fear not, more will follow (hopefully not so late). I thank you for reading this chapter. Enjoy.

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Athena jabbed her finger into his chest repeatedly.

"We have a job to do Titan! If we don't kill Crota who will?" She asked, frustration in her eyes began to turn into welled up tears. Sprinkle, Alex, Leon, and Morningstar sat on the sidelines (couch) watching the two argue. None of them wanted to break the lover's quarrel, only sitting in silence except for the crunching of popcorn Sprinkle nommed on.

Now it was Shadows turn to speak again. "Athena you're hunting a Hive God that has the Power to destroy thousand of legendary Guardians. Look! you're even gonna drag Leon and Morningstar into this!"

Both Guardians shrunk at the sudden attention. "Hey it's whatever the boss wants. Fighting Fallen all day is boring anyways." Morningstar tilted his head with a nod in agreement with Leon.

"Not helping guys!" Shadow barked.

Athena was growing sick of this argument. The warrior grabbed Shadow and pulled him from the living room and into Sprinkles room. The door slammed loudly followed up by a loud smash and yelling.

Morningstar went to help but Sprinkle and Leon grabbed the exo by his arms. Sprinkle leaned back into the couch, "I would just-" another crashing from the room made them cringe. Alex stood up and stretched his arms.

"While those two argue tell us about this Crota case." Alex demanded. Morningstar was the first to speak.

"As you probably already know Crota is the Hive lord that took over the moon. A team of six including Eris attempted to destroy Crota once and for all but as you can see failed. Eris is the last of her ill-fated party. The only reason why Eris picked Athena to lead this mission is because Ikora and the rest of the Vanguard believe in her ability to see this through." Morningstar sat back down but not before handing Alex a PDA. A picture of what looked like a Hive wizard was on the screen. Sprinkle leaned over and took a look.

"Is this a target?" He asked. Leon nodded his head. "Omnigul is one of Crota's commanders. Her and the other generals plan to invade Earth for Crota. We just stopped Omnigul from trying to take control of Rasputin. Tomorrow we're hunting the generals and-" Morningstar filled his hand with his power and seemed to grin to himself, "will save omnigul for last."

Shadow ducked under her hook then blocked her knee with his hand. Athena twisted her hips and threw her leg out into a roundhouse but Shadow ducked low grabbing her waist and spun behind her grabbing her in a vice grip. He yelled as he lifted her off her feet and threw her over his shoulder on to the bed in a perfect suplex. Before she could recover he pounced on top of her pinning her arms down. "Get off me," Athena hissed under her breath. She took a deep breath when she looked into his eyes. A look of pure hurt and anger written all over his face, in his eyes you could see so much pain. "You think…" he took a moment to collect himself.

"You think I don't know the risks? Why should we have to fight a war that isn't ours? The Traveller came to US, gave our people the technology and power to send us higher than we could ourselves. Regardless of the power we were given this should not be our fight. We shouldn't have to question everyday, before we get on to our ships, and look out to the stars beyond the Traveller, if will come home." Shadow let go of her wrists and stood up facing away from her. He went to open the door but Athena was there next to him, her hand over his stopping him. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. On her tippy toes she leaned up and kissed him on the lips. Like a switch his mind seemed to switch off. His whole body seemed to light up like a firework, or maybe it was just the sound of the guys playing video games outside. After what seemed like forever they parted lips and she put smiled softly to herself. "It's because we have so many people counting on us. Not just our species but the Awoken and Exo too. If everyone thought that way no one would fight and thats when we have completely lost this war." Shadow took a deep breath and nodded his head solemnly.

"Hey everything will be okay. Sure I have to fight a couple Hive generals and a Hive god but it's kind of what we signed up for."

Shadow snorted at that, "we didn't sign up to fight aliens or alien gods."

"You know what I mean Titan. Now lets get out of here before anything else happens." Athena winked at him. Just as she finished saying that Shadow grabbed her by the hand and spun her around till she was in his arms. He kissed her once for, enjoying this blissful feeling while it lasted. Athena made a satisfied noise and put a hand to his chest. "Will make it out of this Shadow we will you can bet your arse on that."

"You promise?" He asked as she reached for the doorknob.

Athena tried not to let him see her hands shaking and only nodded her head. "I promise" she whispered under her breath. Shadow could tell she was scared but he wasn't going to say anything. They each have their roles to play in this war. Braving what's out on the frontier, is what they do for the people of this city. Stepping out of the door of Sprinkles room sealed any chances of trying to convince Athena, it was all or nothing now.


End file.
